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For more tips like these to save on your Medicare costs and to maximize your Social Security benefits, sign up for The Senior Citizens League's Social Security & Medicare Advisor newsletter or call for more information..This occurred all over the U.S. at the very same time that food prices exploded. On December 21, 2020 the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, for example, announced that as of January of this year, 75,079 SNAP households would see an average reduction of in monthly benefits due primarily to the COLA. Another 118 SNAP cases would close, as increased income pushes those households over the eligibility limit..Low-Income Health Programs, Working and Laid Off Workers Take the Biggest Hit When Medicare Part B Premiums Spike.This week, appropriators in the House and Senate continued their work on the .1 trillion omnibus to fund the federal government through the remainder of the fiscal year. Lawmakers have just one week to finalize the deal in order to avoid a government shutdown like the one that occurred in 2013..The statement that "nearly two-thirds of undocumented immigrants affected by the president's executive action don't pay taxes today" doesn't appear to be supported by the government's own data, and is contradicted by statements from Social Security's own Chief Actuary Stephen Goss. Goss was quoted in The New York Times as saying that about "three-quarters of other-than-legal immigrants" already pay payroll taxes. And the Social Security Administration receives on average about 9 million copies of suspicious wage and payroll tax reports a year in which the Social Security number and name don't match those on Social Security records. This situation frequently occurs when undocumented immigrants illegally work under invalid or fraudulent Social Security numbers. But if that's the case, awarding work authorization and Social Security numbers now would make up to 5 million individuals eligible to claim permanent Social Security and Medicare benefits based on earnings under those illegitimate wage reports..Call Social Security at for more information about your Medicare eligibility and to sign up for Part A and/or Part B. You can also apply at /retirement. You can get free personalized heath insurance counseling from your State Health Insurance Assistance Program. Many of these programs operate through area agencies on aging. Check your local phone book or call the Eldercare Locator to find help in your community.."Protecting the integrity of the Social Security program for current and future retirees is critical to our members and supporters," Hyland said. "As such, TSCL salutes you for introducing an amendment to S. 744 that would prohibit unauthorized workers from receiving Social Security benefits based on work completed illegally, with stolen or fraudulent Social Security numbers… we believe your amendment would improve the program's long-term solvency and prevent an unspecified and unnecessary strain on the Trust Fund.".TSCL is also highly concerned that the candidates are not talking enough about protecting the annual COLA from cuts. During the recent 2011 debt limit talks with House Speaker John Boehner, President Obama floated a debt reduction plan that would have reduced government spending annual increase by using the chained Consumer Price Index to calculate the COLA..Unrealistic Cost-of-Living-Adjustments : COLAs are already inadequate: Seniors have lost almost one-third of their buying power since 2000, according to a recent TSCL study. In that period, COLAs increased just 31 percent, while typical senior expenses jumped 73 percent, more than twice as fast. There is talk of using a "chained" CPI to calculate COLAs. But the spending patterns assumed by the "chained" CPI don't apply as well to seniors, who spend a larger percentage of their income on necessities that aren't as conducive to substitution. Billed as a mere "technical correction," a TSCL analysis shows that using a "chained" CPI to calculate COLAs would in fact slash payments by more than ,000 over a 25-year retirement. Read more here and here.