Last week TSCL was part of a virtual meeting with Senator John Thune who, as the Majority Whip, is the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell..Action from Congress is needed to address Social Security's looming shortfall. Without it, the Social Security Trust Fund is estimated to run short by 203Should that occur, benefits would be reduced by about 22% to match the level of payroll taxes coming in..Much of Wednesday's hearing was focused on the repeal of the ACA. Several lawmakers in the majority party including Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander called for the establishment of a solid ACA replacement plan. He said: "The American people deserve health care reform that's done the right way, for the right reasons, in the right amount of time. It's not about developing a quick fix, it's about working toward long-term solutions that work for everyone." Congressman Price seemed to agree, and he expressed his support for a health system that ensures health insurance access but not a guarantee of coverage for all..The disability program has been redeeming the assets, or IOUs, held in the DI trust fund for several years and is projected to become totally insolvent in 201Upon insolvency, legislation would be required if the DI trust fund were to borrow money in order to pay benefits, even if the money is borrowed from the OASI trust fund. The two funds have borrowed from each other in the past. During the 1980's, the OASI trust fund borrowed from the DI trust fund and the money was later repaid. However, in 2018 the OASI trust fund will be facing its own financial problems..Agreeing on methods of payment has proven to be the most difficult task. One conferee, Sen. Jon Kyl stated this week: "The way our Democratic colleagues have been approaching offsets, there's just not much of anything that they seem willing to agree to, so I'm pretty pessimistic that we can get that done.".The issue of PBM transparency is not a hyper-partisan issue - and that was clear when the U.S. House passed our bill by an overwhelming margin of 403 to 0. That vote should signal just how common high drug prices are in districts across the country, and I'm encouraged by Democrats and Republicans both recognizing the pressing need for our legislation..Under current law, immigrants who work without legal authorization, but who later gain legal status, aren't prosecuted for using fraudulent or even stolen Social Security numbers. Those who kept evidence of earnings, like W2s, could later reinstate unauthorized earnings under a valid Social Security number and legally claim benefits based on those illegal earnings. Suspicious wage reports remain in the Earnings Suspense File until the Social Security Administration receives evidence to link the unidentified earnings to a valid work-authorized Social Security number..The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security of 2020, however, suspended the automatic Medicare cuts from taking effect between May 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. "But the legislation extended cuts for an additional year beyond the current expiration date," Johnson notes. "That will mean that Medicare and Medicaid will continue to be subject to automatic cuts until 2030, 10 more years.".The far greater worry, however, is a sharp increase in almost every source of quality protein - including meat, poultry, and even canned tuna. "With many meat price increases in the double digits, we are highly concerned that older households may not be getting adequate supplies of protein in their diets," Johnson says. "This was a nationwide problem prior to the pandemic, and the problem has been exacerbated by shortages and disruptions during the pandemic," she points out.
