Committees Discuss Solutions to Opioid Epidemic.Despite the coronavirus emergency, The Senior Citizens League is continuing its fight for you to protect your Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits. We've had to make some adjustments in the way we carry on our work, but we have not, and will not stop our work on your behalf..But she worries how she will manage another year with no net increase in her benefits. "This isn't right," she says. "Congress isn't looking out for the interests of seniors," she adds. "I'm going farther and farther into poverty.".And that's not the only way this hospital and others like it are getting shorted. Most rural healthcare providers receive lower Medicare reimbursement rates. That puts rural providers in a financial bind and makes it difficult for hospitals and doctors to keep their doors open for business..Cook big batches of soups, stews and casseroles, and freeze extrMake big batches of soups, stews and casseroles, then freeze servings for one or two. All use less expensive cuts of meats, poultry, and fish. Many can be stretched and made all the more delicious with the addition of vegetables and cooked dry beans. Save the most by making your own stocks, rather than buying the heavily sodium-laden variety off the shelf. A simple stock or stew base requires only carrots, onion, and celery, perhaps some garlic, water, and a small amount of salt. Try growing your own parsley and thyme to add year round. Recycle yogurt, cottage cheese and other small plastic containers for freezer containers. Mark with contents and date..The statement that "nearly two-thirds of undocumented immigrants affected by the president's executive action don't pay taxes today" doesn't appear to be supported by the government's own data, and is contradicted by statements from Social Security's own Chief Actuary Stephen Goss. Goss was quoted in The New York Times as saying that about "three-quarters of other-than-legal immigrants" already pay payroll taxes. And the Social Security Administration receives on average about 9 million copies of suspicious wage and payroll tax reports a year in which the Social Security number and name don't match those on Social Security records. This situation frequently occurs when undocumented immigrants illegally work under invalid or fraudulent Social Security numbers. But if that's the case, awarding work authorization and Social Security numbers now would make up to 5 million individuals eligible to claim permanent Social Security and Medicare benefits based on earnings under those illegitimate wage reports..Benefits are based on lifetime earnings. To be qualified for retirement benefits, workers need about 10 years of earnings. The earnings are indexed to account for changes in average wages since the year the earnings were received. Then SSA calculates the average indexed monthly earnings using the 35 years of highest earnings. A formula is applied to this amount to arrive at the basic benefit..The plan would comprehensively reform Medicare by transforming it into a "premium support" program, where seniors would be given vouchers by the federal government to purchase private health insurance coverage on a federal exchange. Experts predict that "premium support" models like the one laid out in the "Budget for a Brighter American Future" would result in substantially higher out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries over time..Medicare Part B premiums are forecast to soar an astonishing 22.3% for an estimated 16 million Medicare beneficiaries in 2017 - the biggest such jump in nearly three decades. The anticipated spike in monthly premiums, from 1.80 to an estimated 9.00 per month in 2017, is primarily due to the effects of an extremely low inflation that's expected to hit retirees again next year. Medicare Trustees believe that the annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2017 will be insufficient to cover the amount of the Medicare Part B premium increase for the majority of Medicare beneficiaries. That would trigger a special "hold harmless" provision of law.
