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What are budget cutters looking at? Here are a few key proposals under discussion. After reviewing these, tell us what you think by taking our survey..Immigration law forbids working in this country without legal authorization and a Social Security Number. Yet millions of "undocumented" immigrant workers are earning income. Illegals often get jobs by using illegally obtained, forged, or invalid Social Security numbers. Employers in turn withhold payroll taxes and report the earnings to the Social Security Administration using those numbers. When the numbers don't match up with the numbers issued by SSA, they go into a special file called the "Earnings Suspense File." Valid numbers issued from the U.S. government are also misused..[2] "How Much Is Enough? Out-of-Pocket Spending Among Medicare Beneficiaries: A Chartbook," Kaiser Family Foundation, July 2014..In fact, unlike the additional Medicare tax on high earners, this 3.8% net investment tax was not even a specific provision of the Affordable Care Act. It was a provision of a separate bill, the Health Care Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010 which was passed about two days after the Affordable Care Act. By setting up the revenues so that they would flow to the General Fund, Congress by-passed earmarking those revenues for Medicare Part A or Part B Trust Fund. That means when the funds are used for other government spending, the Medicare Trust Funds are not earning any interest from the federal government for the use of those funds..TSCL encourages all readers concerned about the future of their Social Security and Medicare benefits to Contact your Member of Congress. Let's tell Congress not to pay Social Security based on unauthorized work! Work under invalid and fraudulent Social Security numbers should be invalid for entitlement to Social Security benefits. To learn more, track bills that are in congress..Since the WEP and GPO were created decades ago, lawmakers have been working on better alternatives. At Tuesday's hearing, those on the subcommittee discussed a bill the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act that could be a promising solution. If signed into law, it would provide immediate relief to current retirees affected by adjusting their Social Security benefits. According to Stephen Goss the Social Security Administration's Chief Actuary around 80 percent would see benefit increases of approximately 20 percent..This week, TSCL formally announced its support for Rep. Tim Walberg's Social Security and Medicare Lock-Box Act. If signed into law, the bill would safeguard the Social Security and Medicare Part A Trust Funds and prevent lawmakers from using the monies for unrelated purposes. In addition, it would establish a commission to determine alternate forms of investment for the surplus funds..The report further stated that "Dental care was the most commonly postponed service, with 43% having delayed care. Thirty-six percent put off checkups and treatment for ongoing conditions, while 32% delayed diagnostic screenings..There are several types of Medicare Advantage plans, and not all are available in all areas. Many are health maintenance organizations, but there are also preferred provider organizations and special needs plans, among others. Under traditional Medicare with a Medigap plan, you may go to any doctor who accepts Medicare. But in a Medicare Advantage HMO plan you need to use network healthcare providers in order to get coverage. If you are treated by non-network providers, you would be responsible for 100% of the out-of-pocket costs, and Medicare would not cover the cost of the claim. If the plan is a PPO, however, you would have greater flexibility to go out of network, but you would pay higher co-pays or co-insurance. Before selecting any Medicare Advantage plan, check the lists of network doctors, hospitals and other providers! It is not unheard of for Medicare Advantage plans to market to people who live a good distance from the nearest in network health care provider.