Tuesday Senators Grassley and Wyden announced legislation, The Prescription Drug Pricing and Reduction Act of 201The bill if adopted would save taxpayers more than 0 Billion, lower Medicare Beneficiaries out-of-pocket costs by Billion and premiums by Billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. A hearing on Thursday of a key panel of legislators advanced the legislation out of the Senate Finance Committee despite close-call votes on controversial provisions, priming the legislation to be considered by the full Senate in the fall..Following the reception, the Board of Trustees and TSCL's legislative team spent the afternoon meeting with six Members of Congress and their top aides. Support was expressed for a number of key bills, including the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers Act, the Notch Fairness Act, and the Social Security Fairness Act, among others..Given the importance, changes to Social Security should ideally be made only after a full and open debate, separate from the debt limit negotiations. Any changes should be kept as small as possible and phased in over the longest possible period, and they should not affect people who are currently over 50 years of age..annual "wellness" exam and you pay nothing, if your doctor "accepts assignment".For the past two years, nearly 160 million Americans have enjoyed a two percent Social Security payroll tax holiday, which has resulted in approximately 0 in annual tax relief in the form of higher paychecks for the average worker. The measure was passed in 2010 in an effort to stimulate the sluggish economy, and it has been extended twice since then. But the popular tax cut is set to expire on the first of January, and for four key reasons, The Senior Citizens League is urging Congress to let the tax holiday come to an end..It remains to be seen whether Republicans in the Senate will begin working with Democrats on legislation that would stabilize the health insurance markets, or whether they will shift their focus to other legislative priorities. Following the failed vote early Friday morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told his colleagues: "I regret that our efforts were simply not enough … It's time to move on.".According to the new Medicare Trustee Report released in April of this year, Medicare Part B premiums for 2020 are expected to rise .80 from 5.50 to 4.30 in 2020. That would swallow the entire COLA of Social Security recipients with benefits of about 5 or less. According to Social Security data, roughly 4 million low benefit Social Security recipients could be at risk of seeing no growth in their net Social Security benefit due to rising Part B premiums..President Obama and House leadership are discussing support of a more "limited approach" to immigration reform. Under discussion is a plan to grant illegal immigrants limited legal status by providing the right to work in the U.S., but not citizenship..I've been out of work since late March. The company that I was working for is in the process of declaring bankruptcy, and I haven't found a new job yet. I turn 64 in two months, but if I start Social Security now my retirement benefit would be pretty low.
