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Masks and face coverings remain an important tool to stop spread of the coronavirus, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Congress this week, adding that he's worried that some Americans appear to be ignoring the advice..punitive tax penalty..limited coverage for medically-related home health care, or short-term nursing."Using that criterion, the Social Security reform trigger has already been pulled," Johnson notes. In their latest report, the Social Security Trustees say the combined retirement, survivors, and disability Trust Funds will exceed total income by increasing amounts starting in 2022 and will be depleted in 2034, well within the 75-year period called for in the budget resolution..Virtually all low-income programs such as food stamps, rental assistance and Medicare Extra Help, come with complex eligibility rules and income restrictions that are tied to a percentage of the federal poverty level, such as 100%, 135% or 150%. If your income is right on the borderline, and you get a high COLA boost, that could potentially cause you to see trims to benefits from programs that have income restrictions. Some individuals might lose access to certain low-income benefits altogether because the COLA boosts their income over the limit..Medicare's extraordinarily high reimbursement rates for durable medical equipment like back braces and power wheel chairs have made it a particularly lucrative target for crooks and abuse billing practices. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently reported that an astonishing 66% of all durable medical equipment claims were improperly paid in the government's fiscal year 2012, costing Medicare more than billion..So, which one should you take?.On Wednesday, Congressman John Garamendi introduced the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers Act at a press conference with several advocates for older Americans, including TSCL. If adopted, his bill would base Social Security COLAs on a more accurate measure of inflation using the CPI-E. Currently, they are based on the way young workers spend their money using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners..President Announces Lower Insulin Costs for some Seniors

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During the debt limit negotiations, one of the most frequently discussed components of deficit reduction plans included a switch to the "chained" CPI. Such a proposal wouldn't just impact Social Security benefits; it would also reduce Railroad Retirement benefits, military retirement, and federal pension payouts as well as Supplemental Security Income payments received by very low-income seniors. In addition, seniors would also pay more in taxes since the CPI is also used to adjust tax brackets, the standard deduction, and personal exemptions..While neither platform outlines a comprehensive path forward for Social Security, they do offer two dramatically different stances on the program's future. The Democrats adopted a platform that prioritizes an expansion of Social Security, while the Republicans committed to reforming the program in a way that improves the program's financial outlook without using revenue increases to do so..Apply for pharmacy assistance programs from your drug manufacturer. Medicare maintains a list of pharmacy assistance programs by drug name. Click here to learn if there is a program for your drug. … Continued

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Research conducted by Johnson for The Senior Citizens League has found that Social Security benefits have lost 34 percent of their buying power since 2000 because the index used to calculate the annual cost-of-living-adjustment increase doesn't adequately factor in the cost increases experienced by retirees. In 2000, for example, it cost 5 to fill up a 500-gallon home-heating oil tank. The average benefit amount in 2000 was 6, leaving older homeowners with 1 to put toward other household expenses. Today, it costs about ,640 to fill the same oil tank, but those who received benefits of 6 in 2000 only receive ,193.10 in 201"That leaves older consumers digging into savings or borrowing to make up the difference of 6.90," Johnson says. "The Social Security loss of buying power for 2018–2019 appears likely to continue to get worse.".Pay off an existing mortgage. When you make additional principal payments on an outstanding mortgage balance, the lower balance will save you interest expense. If you have an amortized fixed-rate mortgage, the monthly amount of the payment doesn't change. With the additional principal payments the loan balance declines and more of your monthly payment goes toward the repayment of principal. You will repay the loan faster than the stated loan term on your contract. You can find mortgage calculators online, to help you determine how extra principal payments reduce your mortgage interest expense and the remaining loan term. When considering pre-paying your mortgage, consider the rates of return. If you were to save the extra cash in a savings account or CD, your rate of return currently is quite low and prepaying your mortgage may give you a better return based on the interest rate of your loan. Financial advisors, however, generally recommend that you pay off your mortgage out of income, and not cash from your retirement accounts. Your retirement accounts provide you with a savings cushion, that most seniors will need later in retirement, and they are protected from creditors..A pending Totalization Agreement with Mexico could add more than 1.6 million Mexicans to the rolls and cost in excess of 7 billion by 2040 according to a new report released by TREA Senior Citizens League. The cost estimate, the first of its kind, was performed for TSCL to provide a more comprehensive picture of the impact a totalization agreement with Mexico would have on the fiscal solvency of Social Security. … Continued