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This week, appropriators in the House and Senate continued making progress on a number of fiscal 2015 bills. Notably, House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers released a plan to trim funding slightly for the contentious Labor-HHS-Education measure, which the Social Security and Medicare programs both fall under. The plan would provide 5.7 billion in funding for the measure, which is approximately billion below the current funding level.."The Cuts To A Major Disability Program In Trump's Budget," Jacqueline Alemany, CBS News, June 1, 2017..Prior to their recess the House of Representatives was able to pass 10 of the 12 spending bills that are needed to fund the government for fiscal year 2020. However, as has been the case for several years, the Senate lags behind. As a result, the Senate has been discussing combining various spending bills instead of passing them one by one..After Surgery What Can I Do About Unexpected Bills?.President Obama recently announced a series of Executive Actions to protect an estimated 4.9 million illegal immigrants from deportation. This month the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service is expected to start taking applications as hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants begin to apply for deportation relief, work authorization, and Social Security numbers..The disparity between growth in the COLA and Medigap premiums is likely to be worse in 2020. "Inflation is lower this year, and we are estimating that the COLA is likely to be around 1.7 percent," Johnson says. "Nevertheless, we anticipate that Medigap premiums will continue to grow several times faster for a number of reasons," Johnson adds..The plan released this week is not expected to be adopted or even to win any bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. However, it does mark the start of the fiscal 2016 budget negotiations, and it lays out the line-by-line needs of the federal agencies for appropriators. Soon, the House and Senate Budget Committees will release their own spending blueprints for fiscal 2016, and TSCL expects to see proposals that would dramatically alter the Social Security and Medicare programs. We will keep a close eye on the negotiations as they evolve, and will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website..For more information or to view a list of cosponsors, click here..According to Senator Thune, there is likely to be another major bill providing more money for businesses and others to keep the economy afloat. However, that may not happen until later in June or sometime in July. Obviously, that will use up time that would otherwise have been spent dealing with the other important issues Congress must address.

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I decide I better put them back on my computer desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers..Despite the continued standoff on Capitol Hill, Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries should rest assured that their benefits will not be impacted by the ongoing shutdown. Both Social Security and Medicare are "mandatory" programs, which means that benefits will go out in full and as scheduled regardless of the federal government's operating status. In addition, the administrative offices for both programs are fully funded and are currently operating normally, so those applying for benefits should not see any delays in their requests..Retirees frequently say that their annual cost-of-living adjustment does not adequately keep pace with rising costs. To learn if this is the case, this study, now in its eleventh year, looks at 40 expenditures that are typical for people age 65 and up, comparing the growth in the prices of those goods and services, to the growth in COLAs. … Continued

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How to Hold That Thought.Age doesn't matter for contributions to some types of 401s. Regardless of age, you can continue to contribute to a traditional 401 as long as you own less than 5% of the business you are working for. You aren't required to take required minimum withdrawals..This study has found that Social Security benefits tend to lose buying power over time, because prices of the goods and services most frequently purchased by older Americans tend to increase more quickly than the COLA. In this year's study, price data indicate that Social Security benefits lost 30 percent of buying power since 2000. The 2020 findings represent an improvement in benefit buying power of 3 percentage points from January 2000 through January 2020. Several items came down in price, particularly electricity, as well as a few food items including fresh fruits and vegetables. … Continued