Second, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2017 gained one new cosponsor in Senator Tina Smith, bringing the cosponsor total to twenty-two. If signed into law, S. 915 would repeal the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision two Social Security provisions that cut the earned benefits of millions of teachers, police officers, and other public servants each year..I've been filling my mother's prescriptions at the same pharmacy without a problem and charged the same co-payment every month. In November when I picked up her prescription, I was charged the full price of the drug. She was not near the doughnut hole. I was told her drug card "was not in the system." I went ahead and paid the full price because my mother needed the prescription, but what can I do now?.TSCL is pushing for "The Notch Fairness Act" legislation that would give Notch Babies born from 1917 through 1926 their choice of a lump-sum of ,000 payable in four annual installments or an improved monthly benefit. This legislation is now estimated to cost billion. Sponsorship of this legislation is building steadily, but we need your help. Please contact your Representative and ask for his or her support of "The Notch Fairness Act,"..The low COLA announcement from the trustees comes just weeks after TSCL revealed the findings of its 2016 Survey of Senior Costs. The annual survey examined the cost increases of thirty-eight key items between 2000 and 2016, and it found that Social Security benefits have lost 23 percent of their purchasing power since 2000. During that sixteen-year period, the COLA rose by 36.3 percentage points, while typical senior expenses like housing, Medicare premiums, and prescription drugs jumped 75.3 percent. The findings of the survey are a clear sign that the COLA is growing too slowly, and that it's time to switch to a more accurate measure of inflation like the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers.."Auxiliary Beneficiaries Who Do Not Have Their Own Social Security Number," Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, September 2014, A-01-14-14036..Several times in the hearing, repeal of the Windfall Elimination was mentioned as a priority issue. The Windfall Elimination Provision is simply a recalculation of Social Security benefit for individuals who also have a pension from "non-covered" work. The normal Social Security calculation formula is substituted with a new calculation that usually results in a lower benefit amount. H.R. 141 and S. 521 would repeal this provision..Payments for smoking cessation programs..A lot is at stake. Members of Congress and President Obama have been considering cuts to Social Security cost-of-living adjustments to lower government spending cuts that still remain on the bargaining table. In addition, the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund will be fully exhausted in just three years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. An immigration amnesty would give new access to Social Security for an estimated 11.5 illegal immigrants currently in the U.S., who would become eligible for benefits that potentially include credit for earnings under fraudulent Social Security numbers..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.
