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As part of efforts to strengthen the Social Security system, Congress included the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset in the Social Security Act of 198While intentions were noble, these changes did little to protect the Social Security system. Instead, they unjustly penalized millions of public sector employees..Negotiations Continue among Conferees.Your employer has more than 20 employees..In the meantime, Senators have been advised they will be given 24 hours' notice to return to Washington if somehow agreement can be reached on a new economic relief bill. But any Senator has the power to block that from happening and it is estimated there are about 20 Republicans in the Senate who believe the federal government has done enough regarding the coronavirus..Here is a portion of that report:.Senate Passes Permanent SGR Repeal.Refinancing a mortgage in retirement is a "special needs" situation. TSCL highly recommends that this should be discussed with an unbiased financial advisor..Is Congress Getting A Paycheck This Year?.While the Social Security hold harmless provision provides important protection from Social Security reductions, more money is required to catch up to Medicare Part B levels in following years. If COLAs continue to remain low, premiums would adjusted again due to low COLAs. COLAs would have to be substantially higher in following years or the whole process would happen all over again.

News Summary House Appropriations Subcommittees Approve Fy 2018 State Foreign Operations Sfops And Health Human Services Hhs Appropriations Bills

Meditation and yogNew research has found that mindfulness meditation can actually change the structure of the brain - in a very protective way. Just a couple of weeks of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction training, developed by the University of Massachusetts' Center for Mindfulness, improves concentration and attention since strong focus of attention is one of the central techniques. Meditation training has long been used as a technique for reducing blood pressure, stress and anxiety and also has helped people quit smoking by learning to "decouple" the state of craving from the act of smoking..In the months ahead, The Senior Citizens League will continue to advocate tirelessly for the bipartisan Seniors Have Eyes, Ears, and Teeth Act, and we hope to see it signed into law before the 115th Congress comes to a close at the end of this year. In the meantime, we encourage our supporters to contact their elected officials to request their support for H.R. 50For contact information, visit our website at. There, you can also share your story with The Senior Citizens League and tell us how you would benefit from the passage of the Seniors Have Eyes, Ears, and Teeth Act..To find contact for your Members of Congress or to sign a petition, visit the ACTION CENTER of our website. To find information on key bills and issues, click HERE. … Continued

Yuri Gelfand

The income thresholds that subject up to 50 percent of Social Security benefits to tax start at provisional incomes of ,000 and ,000. A second tier taxes up to 85% of benefits when individual provisional income exceeds ,000, and joint exceeds ,000. If the thresholds were adjusted to today's dollars the ,000 threshold would be about ,107 and the ,000 would be about ,097 according an analysis for TSCL..Over the past decade, there has been no COLA at all three times - in 2010, 2011, and 201In 2017 the COLA was just 0.03%. The 2021 COLA of 1.3% is one of the lowest COLAs ever paid. TSCL feels this is a clear sign that the inflation adjustment for Social Security benefits is failing the very people it was designed to protect..A growing number of Social Security recipients are affected by the tax, because the income thresholds are fixed, rather than adjusted annually, like income brackets. Because of this, the number of Social Security recipients who are hit by the tax has increased substantially over the years as incomes increased. … Continued