Over the weekend it was announced that the Senate and the White House were able to come to an agreement about new legislation and it will be presented today. However, reports are that the GOP bill will cost about trillion while the House-passed bill has a cost of trillion. That means there will have to be major negotiations between the House and Senate once the Senate finally passes its bill..The stakes are high for retirees, who want Congressional action. Eighty eight percent of those of you who took our 2021 Senior Survey want Congress to reduce prescription drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices. Congressional inaction would cost all of us dearly, if lawmakers fail to take action to boost Social Security benefits and enact reforms that would strengthen Social Security's financing for decades to come..Two Ways and Means Subcommittees held hearings on reforming Medicare and Social Security this week. On Tuesday, the Health Subcommittee heard from a panel of experts on Medicare reform, and on Thursday, the Social Security Subcommittee met to discuss potential changes to the program..This week, appropriators in the House and Senate revealed a unique proposal to prevent a government shutdown on December 11th. It would fund the entire federal government through the remainder of the fiscal year, except for the Department of Homeland Security. That agency would only receive funding through the next three months, which should buy lawmakers enough time to solidify a legislative response to President Obama's recent immigration orders..We have been hearing from hundreds of you who are watching the inflation numbers and eagerly looking forward to getting a high inflation boost next year. But a number of you point out an urgent problem that occurs when COLAs raise the income of people with lower incomes. The higher inflation boost can sometimes disqualify people of modest means from receiving low-income benefits such as food stamps or rental assistance..The Obama administration will decide soon whether to appeal Monday's injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. In the meantime, TSCL will keep a close eye on the immigration discussions since the President's recent orders could result in permanent and significant obligations for the Social Security and Medicare programs down the road. We will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website..Typically, working adults age 65 and older can delay enrolling in Medicare without penalty, if they continue to receive group health insurance through their employer. The employer, however, must have more than 20 or more employees. Employers with fewer than 20, fall under Medicare primary payer rules. Under current law, Medicare is the primary payer at age 65 and if you don't sign up by your Initial Enrollment deadline, your former insurance will no longer cover you, because by law, Medicare pays first. In addition, you would be subject to permanent late enrollment penalties for the rest of your life when you do get around to signing up for Medicare..The current Social Security system is like "longevity" insurance. Workers pay into the system through payroll tax withholdings up to the taxable limit on earnings. In return, retirees, and dependents on their account, receive monthly income when they claim benefits. According to projections by Johnson, an age - 66 retiree, who claims benefits in 2017 with an average benefit of ,300 a month, can expect to receive roughly 0,000 over the course of a 25- year retirement, assuming a 2.2 percent annual cost-of-living adjustment..High-income beneficiaries who pay an income-related surcharge in addition to the basic premium.
