TSCL would like to thank Reps. Allen West, Madeleine Bordallo, Cedric Richmond, Tom Marino, and Bill Posey for taking the time to discuss the issues that are most important to our members and supporters. TSCL also met with Anna Gonzalez, Rules Associate for Rep. Alcee Hastings, and Brett Richards, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Steven Palazzo..Your wife's survivors benefit would not be reduced and she would receive the ,842 you would have received had your benefits not been reduced due to the WEP. For more information on survivors benefits, visit. Learn more about the Windfall Elimination Provision here. If you receive a pension for work not covered by Social Security, learn how your spouse or survivors benefits may be affected by the Government Pension Offset here..Sixteen major brand name drugs are going generic this year and another 25 are in the generic pipeline for 201Generic drugs can provide a savings of about 30-80% on the cost of your prescription when compared to brand pricing. But it could take up to a year or more before you and your health plan see substantial savings..You can work while you receive Social Security benefits. When you do, your benefits may be reduced if you earn more than certain limits. But after you reach full retirement age, the Social Security Administration recalculates your benefits and it will be increased to account for the benefits withheld due to excess earnings. The work you do now could mean a higher benefit for you in the future, and that will be important in helping you to afford health care and other big cost increases later on..Those participating in The Senior Citizens League's annual senior survey, which is still being conducted, confirm that monthly household expenses made steep increases over the past year, far in excess of the dollar amount that their COLAs increased benefits. The 2.8 percent COLA raised the average Social Security benefit of ,400 by about per month this year. Yet more than 78 percent of survey participants report that their household spending rose by more than .00 per month in 201"When costs climb more rapidly than benefits, retirees must spend down retirement savings more quickly than expected, and those without savings or other retirement income are either going into debt, or going without," Johnson says..We must provide the basic benefits that our seniors count on, regardless of the ups and downs of the economy. In addition to my legislative proposal, I co-sponsored Congressman Earl Pomeroy's Seniors Protection Act, which would have provided a 0 payment to help beneficiaries cover rising costs of Medicare, prescription drugs, and other necessaries. Unfortunately, despite the President already budgeting for it, the House of Representatives did not enact this one-time payment to seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities who receive Social Security to help them make ends meet during this tough time. This payment would have assisted those 54 million vulnerable individuals nationwide. However, this would have been just a short - term solution to the lack of COLA. I will continue to fight to make sure that Congress passes a long-term solution to the manner in which the COLA is calculated..Medicaid Changes Raising TSCL Concerns For Low-Income Seniors.Compare that to retiring early at age 6She'll lose ,437 in Social Security income. Her starting benefit will be permanently reduced by 25% to ,225, and even with receiving benefits over more years she'll receive only 3,228 over the course of her retirement. Her final benefit would be ,438..A letter to the editor of The Topeka Capital Journal describes one such case of Medicare's over-compensation problem. The writer said that after receiving a back brace for treatment of spinal stenosis, the local back therapy center billed Medicare ,300. Yet the writer found the same brace from the same manufacturer online for Medicare approved 4 for the brace. The writer said that when he contacted the Medicare fraud unit he was told that 4 was the correct Medicare - approved payment to providers for the brace and was told there was nothing Medicare could do about the over-pricing.
