On behalf of the Board of Trustees and all TSCL members, we would like to send a hearty "thank-you," to the Members of Congress and their staff for meeting with us..This week, one new cosponsor Rep. Corrine Brown signed on to the Social Security 2100 Act. The total is now up to sixty-four. If signed into law, H.R. 1391 would increase Social Security benefits by 2 percent, cut taxes for over 11 million seniors, increase the minimum benefit to 125 percent of the poverty line, and make COLAs more fair and accurate. It would also take measures to increase the solvency of the trust fund beyond the next seventy-five years, through the year 2100..Without a doubt the public is often justifiably confused about the convoluted workings of federal benefit programs. But the one thing we are all aware of is the amount of money we pay into Social Security, which includes taxes for both retirement AND disability insurance benefits. Social Security disability benefits are earned - same as retirement benefits. Of the 12.4% payroll tax paid by workers and employers, the retirement trust fund gets 10.6% and the disability insurance trust fund gets 1.8% of the revenues collected..The Senior Citizens League is sharing these stories with Members of Congress as well. If you would like to share your story you may do so here..Obviously, action on those legislative matters are of great concern to TSCL and to seniors in general..On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy met with four expert witnesses to discuss several options for strengthening the Social Security Program. Chairman Sherrod Brown opened the hearing by saying, "A few years ago … all of the conventional Washington wisdom was that we would have to cut the program. Today, not only are cuts to Social Security deeply unpopular, but we are now debating how much we need to expand the program.".Lawmakers Debate Spending Bill, Immigration.If he or a member of his leadership team in the Senate announce their priorities for health care in the Senate The Senior Citizens League Legislative Team will let you know..The main point is that this program would be limited in scale, and only available in certain types of plans, which means only in certain areas of the country. The premiums of these plans would be higher for all enrollees due to the capping of the cost of insulin to the patient, but not actually lowering the cost of insulin overall. That means the supplemental insurance plan would still be paying the full cost of insulin that is charged by the drug companies. To pay for that, the insurance companies would likely increase the costs of their Medicare supplement plans to all who are covered, not just those who are diabetic.
