Month after month, year after year, unbeknownst to most of the public, thousands of people with no Social Security number are receiving Social Security benefits. The beneficiaries don't qualify for benefits based on their own work record. Eighty-three percent of them don't even reside in this country. A few of those receiving benefits are even dead..When the Social Security Administration receives wage reports from employers with Social Security numbers and names that don't match those on file, the reports go into an Earnings Suspense File until they can be reconciled with the rightful owner. That can occur years later when an application for benefits is received. Over the past ten years for which data is available the Social Security Administration has received on average, more than 9.5 million suspicious wage reports annually representing more than billion per year in wages. It's wages, not the amount of taxes paid that are used to determine benefits..Needless to say, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services still lacks the effective oversight to monitor the wasteful payments that continue to plague the system. The Obama administration has made efforts to increase Medicare's accountability and reign in the waste and fraud that remain at an all time high level. In an education initiative, President Obama recently announced an increased effort and funding for a "Senior Medicare Patrol" program designed to educate Medicare beneficiaries on fraudulent spending from healthcare providers. The goal is to bolster Medicare fraud education programs for seniors across the country, highlighting ways to spot and report suspicious fraudulent activity from healthcare providers..The U.S. has given billions of dollars to drug companies to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus that has infected more than 5.1 million people across the country. It has even gambled on locking in a minimum of 800 million doses as soon as the immunizations are cleared later this year or early next year..A COLA as low as 1.2% increases the risk that Medicare Part B premiums for 2020 would take the entire amount of any COLA increase for many beneficiaries. This would be especially true for any Part B increase around .00 per month..Increasing life expectancy, longer retirements, and an increase in the number of retirees all mean that a larger share of the population will be utilizing health services and receiving benefits from Medicare. DCW jobs are currently among the fastest-growing occupations in the country, though their training programs and earnings fail to reflect their incredibly important roles. A recent report by the Brookings Institute found that personal care aides, and nursing, psychiatric and home health aides have median earnings of ,000 and ,000 respectively..If you didn't sign up with Medicare for Part A and/or Part B when you first turned 65, because you were covered by your own or your wife's company's plan, you may need to sign up during the 8-month period that began after your wife's employment ended in order to avoid a late enrollment penalty.."You have a whole spectrum of people out there who won't be reassured by any amount of information," he said. "If we don't pay strict attention to safety, this is going to backfire.".This week, House and Senate lawmakers remained in their home states and districts to continue the two-week spring recess. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Monday, April 29th. In the days ahead, Members of Congress may be hosting town hall meetings and attending events in their home states and districts.
