"Protecting the integrity of the Social Security program for current and future retirees is critical to our members and supporters," Hyland said. "As such, TSCL salutes you for introducing an amendment to S. 744 that would prohibit unauthorized workers from receiving Social Security benefits based on work completed illegally, with stolen or fraudulent Social Security numbers… we believe your amendment would improve the program's long-term solvency and prevent an unspecified and unnecessary strain on the Trust Fund.".With people living longer, retiring too early means potentially leaving tens of thousands in retirement income behind. Who can afford to do that? If you haven't started benefits yet, beware of the anchor effect, and remember that age 70 is the age to get your maximum retirement benefit. Individual circumstances vary though. It's a good idea to get professional help if you can, to take your time to learn about your benefits, and to decide the best age for you to start benefits. This is an important decision. It pays to take your time. To learn more about the "anchor effect," read "What Was I Thinking?".Congressional aides have said that the conference co-chairs, Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Paul Ryan, are "talking almost every day," but a partisan divide over potential "sequester" offsets seems to have halted progress. Half of the conferees hope to replace a portion of the "sequester" with revenue increases, while the other half would like to enact cuts to mandatory programs, including Social Security and Medicare. At this point, conferees on both sides are remaining steadfast in their positions..So it could be significant this week that a Republican member of the Federal Trade Commission, Christine Wilson, stated that she believes Medicare should have more power to negotiate drug prices. She acknowledged that her position would be controversial among her fellow Republicans because they argue that allowing Medicare to negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies would essentially allow Medicare to set drug prices and stifle development of innovative new drugs. As the year progresses, we shall see if her views make any difference..On Wednesday, TSCL announced its support for the Strengthening Social Security Act. Sen. Tom Harkin introduced the bill in the Senate, and Reps. Linda Sanchez and Rush Holt introduced the companion in the House. If signed into law, the bill would reform the Social Security program in three ways: it would adjust the benefit formula, resulting in more generous monthly benefits; it would adopt a Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, resulting in more accurate cost-of-living adjustments; and it would lift the cap on income subject to the payroll tax. According to Rep. Sanchez, these three changes would preserve the Social Security Trust Fund through 2049, reducing the seventy-five year actuarial deficit by approximately 50 percent..Typically, working adults age 65 and older can delay enrolling in Medicare without penalty, if they continue to receive group health insurance through their employer. The employer, however, must have more than 20 or more employees. Employers with fewer than 20, fall under Medicare primary payer rules. Under current law, Medicare is the primary payer at age 65 and if you don't sign up by your Initial Enrollment deadline, your former insurance will no longer cover you, because by law, Medicare pays first. In addition, you would be subject to permanent late enrollment penalties for the rest of your life when you do get around to signing up for Medicare..We share this information with you as a reminder that TSCL does not get any money from the drug makers or any other corporate or major donors. We rely only on you, our supporters, for the funds that allow us to keeping fighting on your behalf to protect the benefits you paid for all of your working life: benefits you earned, you deserve and that you depend on..This discrepancy between COLAs and real costs is squeezing senior households. Retirees are forced to draw down savings faster than planned, and work far longer than anyone ever imagined. In addition, the percentage of households with credit card debt headed by someone age 75 or older has doubled from 11 percent in 1998 to 22 percent in 2010 according to recent data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The sad fact is that people 65 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population filing for bankruptcy. Seniors are getting deep into debt because of high medical bills, long-term care costs, and dwindling retirement savings..Effective since 1977, the GPO prohibits retired spouses, widows, and widowers from receiving the full benefits based on his or her spouse's employment. The WEP was passed in 1983 and reduces the benefit of a retired or disabled worker who also receives a federal, state or local government annuity based on his or her earnings by up to 60 percent.
