With unemployment still 5.4%, and less payroll tax revenue to finance the benefits of swelling Social Security rolls, how is the program's financing faring during our 2021 economic recovery? The Social Security Trustees are expected to soon release a much-anticipated annual report that gives us our first real glimpse of how the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic affected Social Security's retirement, survivors and disability programs in 2020..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..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..The Social Security taxable maximum is tied to the wage index, but according to the Congressional Budget Office, the limit on the amount of wages that can be taxed has not kept up with the growth of wages of the most highly paid workers. Because wages for high - income earners are growing faster than for other workers, the taxable share of the nation's earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes is falling - from 90 percent in 1983 to 82 percent in 201The trend is forecast to continue, with the CBO projecting the share of earnings subject to payroll taxation to drop to below 78 percent by 2026..Find resources in your community using the Eldercare Locator.."Senior Advocates: Small Social Security Bump May be Sign of Future Bad News".And there is this report from Vox News:.Why did Dad get a bill for ,944 after his recent hospitalization due to COVID-19? I thought emergency legislation required coronavirus care to be covered by Medicare. Dad is enrolled in a large Medicare Advantage plan..You receive a call that instructs you to press a number on your telephone keypad to learn how you can receive a Medicare-covered back brace. A live agent comes on the line and asks for your personal information, including your name and Medicare number to determine if you are eligible. Fraudulent suppliers and providers steal your information and use your Medicare number to submit phony claims to Medicare, even if you never order a thing.
