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Even before the coronavirus pandemic Congress was facing tough decisions on how to strengthen the Medicare's Part A Hospital Insurance trust fund. But Congress is now running out of time and will need to move soon on a plan to prolong program solvency..TSCL is working to develop legislation that would ensure greater retirement security for older Americans by providing a modest boost in benefits. TSCL believes that a boost can be provided if Congress would raise the taxable maximum earnings that are subject to Social Security taxes - requiring all workers to pay their fair share..Please note the January 2019 to January 2020 period covered by this study does not include the recent impacts of the coronavirus or the collapse in oil prices..Your own retirement benefit would be low if you were to take it at age 64 - prior to reaching your full retirement age. Full retirement age at which you start receiving full, unreduced benefits, is rising. For people born in 1956 your full retirement age is 66 and 4 months..Customers are asked to provide their Social Security numbers or other personal identifying information in exchange for a bank routing number that will allegedly pay their utility bills. In reality, there is no money, and customers believe they have paid their bills when in fact they have not..I'm 60 and I buy my own health insurance. Would I qualify for the new Obamacare health insurance exchanges? How much would I pay? I paid 1 per month this year, but I have a ,000 deductible with a ,000 annual maximum to keep my premiums affordable. My husband is getting Medicare and we depend on his Social Security for most of our income..TSCL supports the "No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act" introduced by Representative Dana Rohrabacher which would ban the use of earnings for jobs worked while illegal to be used to determine entitlement..New Medicare enrollees in 20Because they are participating in Medicare for the first time, they are not protected because they have no prior premium to serve as a "hold harmless" baseline..Totalization agreements allow workers who divide their careers between two countries to combine earnings credits under both systems in order to qualify for benefits. The U.S. currently has 24 such agreements, most with nations having economies similar to our own. What makes the agreement with Mexico so controversial are the millions of Mexicans working in this country without legal authorization.

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Better access to quality, cheaper generic prescription drugs will provide real relief for many seniors and their families. With building bipartisan support, I'm very hopeful we can push this important reform through Congress..This week, one new cosponsor Rep. David Valadao signed on to Rep. John Duncan's CPI for Seniors Act. The cosponsor total is now at six. If signed into law, H.R. 2154 would create a new consumer price index specifically for senior citizens for the purpose of establishing a more accurate Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. Currently, COLAs are based upon the way young, urban workers spend their money, using the CPI-W. However, seniors spend a disproportionate share of their income on healthcare, and the CPI-W fails to capture that. Each year, it underestimates the spending inflation that seniors experience. TSCL enthusiastically supports the CPI for Seniors Act, and we were pleased to see one new cosponsor sign on this week..Sell and buy "senior" housing. If your home is too big, too expensive, and your needs are changing, it may be wise to start shopping for a more efficient newer home. Use the balance of the remaining sales proceeds for investments or an annuity to provide retirement income. When looking at new homes, consider future transportation needs and ease of access to public transportation to stores, businesses, healthcare facilities, and other favorite places. Spend time learning about the new community and do your homework on property values. Have homes in the area recently been reassessed for local taxes, or will you pay taxes based on "pre- crash" real estate values? How far is the new home from your kids and family? If you develop health issues, what type of medical care is available, including home care workers? … Continued

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An intense battle over Social Security is brewing and TSCL is gearing up for major Congressional action. Recently retired Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan waded back into the fray to tell Congress "Our choices right now are not between good and better; they're between bad and worse. The problem we now face is the most extraordinary financial crisis that I have ever seen or read about. Irrespective of what you say should be done on the tax side, you still have to cut some benefits on the expenditure side." The statement is chilling considering Greenspan oversaw the largest single overhaul of the program in history, chairing the National Commission on Social Security Reform in the early 1980's..The largest percentage of those surveyed in TSCL's 2017 Senior Survey - 37 percent - reported that their household expenses rose by more than 9 per month in 2016, yet the annual cost of living adjustment increased benefits by only 0.3 percent, about .00- .00 per month for someone with average benefits. Few beneficiaries actually saw an increase in benefits at all, however, because rising Medicare Part B premiums took the entire COLA. "This flat growth in Social Security forces tens of millions of retirees and their families to spend more out of savings every year, go into debt, or look to Medicaid and other safety net programs to make ends meet," Johnson says..Wrong answer, Mr. Mulvaney. … Continued