A divorce can throw a monkey wrench into retirement plans, especially for women whose earning records may have fewer work years and at lower earnings than their former spouses. Understanding your options can help you maximize your Social Security benefit and live a more secure retirement. Here are the four main eligibility rules to qualify for a benefit based on the work record of an ex-spouse:.The blueprint also calls for billion in Social Security cuts, and it would fully repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with the House-passed American Health Care Act. That change would leave millions of older Americans not yet eligible for Medicare without health insurance coverage due to high costs. It would also impact around 11 million Medicare beneficiaries who are also enrolled in the Medicaid program many of whom are patients in costly nursing home facilities..Drug Legislation Running Out of Time as Part D Costs Set to Soar.It's hard to plan your optimal retirement age without a realistic idea of what to expect in lifetime Social Security income. Yet, according TSCL's 2017 Senior Survey, 71% of survey participants said that's exactly the situation they were in when they filed a claim for Social Security benefits. They did not know, and Social Security did not supply any estimate of what they could expect in total lifetime Social Security income based on their choice of retirement age..For progress updates on H.R. 1902 or H.R. 1776, visit the Bill Tracking section of TSCL's website. To contact your Members of Congress to request their support for the bills, click HERE..President Trump has said that he wants to deliver on his promise to lower drug costs, but bipartisan legislation is required to cap costs and provide real cost savings for older Americans. If Congress fails to take action, older Americans will bear the increasing burden of higher drug spending through depleted savings, higher taxes, and a lower standard of living..In March of this year, after nearly a year of debate in Congress, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. As the initial media coverage and analysis of the new law reached a fever pitch, there were many news reports on a certain provision of the law that relates to prescription drug coverage retirees receive through their former employers..On Monday, a group of three Senators Amy Klobuchar, John McCain, and Chuck Grassley sent a letter to the White House urging the administration to utilize its executive power to reduce prescription drug costs..So far activists, including TSCL's members and supporters, have managed to keep Capitol Hill lawmakers wary of making major changes. But the issue isn't going away any time soon. The nation will once again reach the federal debt limit by the end of next year, and at the same time, lawmakers will be confronted with the looming insolvency of the Social Security Disability program. Deficit reduction battles are likely to dominate the Congressional agenda once again, and cutting COLAs remains the target of major deficit reduction plans.
