I remain committed to determining the causes of rising drug prices and identifying potential solutions to reduce costs for American families. Everyone deserves access to health care that will improve their lives. Health care is a right, not a privilege, and I pledge to do all I can to protect this right..Medical costs are a big expense in retirement that many retirees tend to underestimate. But healthcare isn't always the biggest item. Housing takes the biggest chunk of the household budget in retirement. Here are five of the biggest housing expenses to whittle down in 2014:.Parent must receive at least one-half of his or her support from that individual..When the average person measures cost changes, one compares the change in the cost of a specific item like a gallon of home heating oil over a specific time frame. For example, the national average cost of home heating oil was .15 per gallon in the first week of January 2000. In the first week in January, 2013 it had increased to .00 per gallon - an increase of .8That's a total increase of 257% over 13 years..TSCL enthusiastically supports the Audiology Patient Choice Act and the Seniors Have Eyes, Ears, and Teeth Act, and we look forward to working with their sponsors in the House and Senate to help build support for them. For more information, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. For progress updates, follow TSCL on Twitter..Medicare Part B premiums are expected to stay at 4 per month in 2018, leaving people like Barbara facing a big premium increase. The 4 premium is per month more than she paid this year, and more than what Barbara expects to get from her COLA in 201That means her Part B premium will be adjusted again to prevent reduction in her benefits. As much as that protection is appreciated, Barbara is frustrated about high Medicare premium costs after years of low or no COLA growth. "It's been 36 months since I've had any raise in my net operating Social Security, but my actual household costs continue to go up," Barbara says. "This isn't fair to retirees," she adds..That has never been truer than in this Congress. In trying to craft the new legislation to improve Medicare benefits and lower drug prices, it turns out it's not just Democrat vs. Republican, it's also Senate vs. House, Democrat vs. Democrat, and to a lesser extent, Republican vs. Republican..Legislation is currently under consideration in the House, The Social Security 2100 Act, that would adjust the income thresholds that subject Social Security benefits to taxation, from ,000 to ,000 for single filers and from ,000 to 0,000 for joint filers. According to a survey by The Senior Citizens League, 55 percent of survey participants support lifting the threshold for taxation of Social Security benefits to those levels, and only 12 percent oppose. The bill would pay for this as well as providing a boost in Social Security benefits and a more generous cost-of-living adjustment, by increasing the amount of wages subject to payroll taxes and by very gradually increasing the tax rate that workers and employers pay..Yes, unfortunately this is correct. Under current law Social Security benefits are not payable for the month in which a beneficiary dies. This is so even when the beneficiary, like your husband, passes away on the last day of the month. However, according to the Social Security Administration the check that an individual receives in a given month is the payment for the preceding month. That means the check that your husband received during the month of March was his benefit for February, which you would be entitled to keep. It is the March payment that you would have received in April, and any thereafter that must be returned.
