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"One of the most difficult tasks facing Congress is overcoming a huge public credibility gap," warns TSCL Chairman Ed Cates. The public overwhelmingly views Social Security as one combined Trust Fund, which provides retirement, survivors and disability benefits. "In reality there are two - one for retirement and survivors benefits and one for disability benefits - and they operate separately," Cates notes..The Obama Administration recently opened the "illegals may apply" window at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Even before the government started accepting applications, estimates of those expected to qualify, more than doubled from the original government projections released just two months earlier. Nearly 1.8 million illegal immigrants under the age of 31 could become eligible. As details emerge, TSCL is concerned that the program is far broader than early announcements suggested..TSCL will watch closely to see what, if anything, is introduced in Congress to boost Social Security payments for seniors and we will keep you posted as things move forward..House speaker Paul Ryan's proposal to overhaul Medicare by providing beneficiaries a subsidy or voucher to shop for private insurance on a federal health exchange has been included in House budget blue prints numerous times, but voters are overwhelmingly opposed to the idea. The plan would give private insurance plans a greater role in Medicare, and beneficiaries would be given a subsidy to shop for insurance coverage. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the plan would shift a growing share of the costs to beneficiaries..Forty-nine years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law and by doing so made a solemn agreement with every single American. Simply put, if you work hard and play by the rules, Medicare will be there for you when you retire..TSCL's members and supporters, through various surveys and polls, have backed these policy recommendations. Together, they represent a balanced and responsible path forward for the DI program. To read the full set of policy recommendations submitted by TSCL to the Social Security Subcommittee, visit our website. To stay updated on efforts to strengthen and reform the Social Security program, follow TSCL on Facebook or Twitter..TSCL enthusiastically supports the Social Security Guarantee Act since it would go a long way in ensuring the retirement security older Americans have earned and deserve. At a time when many in Congress are considering proposals that would cut Social Security benefits, we believe its passage is more important than ever..Appropriations Talks Continue.If signed into law, the bill would take several steps to strengthen the Social Security program. It would make the cost-of-living adjustment more accurate by adopting an inflation index specifically for seniors, increase the minimum Social Security benefit to 125 percent of the poverty line, and enact an across-the-board benefit increase of approximately 2 percent, among other things. It would also responsibly strengthen the program's finances and ensure that the trust fund is fully solvent through the year 2100.

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TSCL on the Hill."Sequester Savings on Senior Programs Would Add New Cost, Study Says," Kerry Young, CQ Roll Call. "Meals on Wheels Budget Cuts: 'Slowly Developing Crisis,'" Jeanne Sahadi, CNN Money, May 6, 2013..During that period COLAs have averaged just 1.4%. In 2010, 2011, and 2016 there was no COLA payable at all and, in 2017, the COLA was just 0.03 percent. "But COLAs have never remained so low, for such an extended period of time, in the history of Social Security," says Johnson, who has studied the COLA for more than 25 years. Over the 20 - year period covering 1990 to 2009, COLAs routinely averaged 3 percent annually, and were even higher before that period. … Continued

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an average of ,600 a month..Here's how it works. Undocumented immigrants use illegally obtained Social Security numbers to get jobs. Employers report earnings to the Social Security Administration as required by law. Those wages are used to calculate benefits when a worker files a claim. But when the Social Security Administration receives a name or SSN on a W-2 that does not match the agency's records, the wage report goes into an earnings suspense file while attempts are made to reconcile the discrepancy..While that is certainly better than 2010 and 2011 when inflation was so low that no COLA was paid for two years in a row, it's unlikely to cover seniors' real cost increases. Earlier this year we surveyed our readers and 89% reported that the 1.7% COLA in 2013 increased benefits by less than per month. On the other hand, almost the same number, 88%, reported that their total monthly expenses rose by more than Unfortunately the majority of those people, 40%, said that their monthly costs rose by more than 9. … Continued

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