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The Social Security 2100 Act would strengthen the program's financing by:.A new study recently found that Social Security benefits have lost 34 percent of their purchasing power since 2000 due to rising costs and inadequate cost-of-living adjustments. Do you support the bipartisan CPI-E Act, which would make the COLA more fair and adequate?.While the majority of workers pay Social Security on 100% of their earnings, people who earn the most, more than 8,500 a year, pay NOTHING on earnings over that amount..By Representative Matt Cartwright.This week, TSCL also proudly endorsed the Seniors Have Eyes, Ears, and Teeth Act, a bipartisan bill from Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard and 130 cosponsors in the House. If adopted, the bill would expand Medicare coverage of hearing, vision, and dental services. Currently, Medicare is prohibited from covering these critical health services, and many older Americans living on fixed incomes cannot afford to pay out-of-pocket for them..House Subcommittee Holds "Doc Fix" Hearing.The Bipartisan Policy Center points out in a recent blog, that each of these sources of revenues is negatively impacted by high unemployment. When people are out of work, no payroll taxes are withheld from earnings. A portion of Social Security benefits is taxable when a Social Security recipient has an income higher than ,000 or ,000 for a couple filing jointly. But the coronavirus recession has impacted both earnings from jobs and the value of retirement accounts, so that fewer retirees will meet the income thresholds that make their benefits taxable this year. Finally, the Federal Reserve has responded to the recession by cutting interest rates, which means that the yields on the bonds held by the Social Security Trust Funds are smaller and will provide lower interest income. A recession also causes a higher number of new claims when older workers are forced to retire earlier than planned, raising costs in the short term..Fifty-six percent of all Social Security households pay taxes on their benefits. Many of them have very modest middle incomes and didn't adequately understand or plan for these taxes, which take about 6% on average of Social Security income..keep your job, or consider going back to work, even if you've already started

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Check your health plan's "out-of-pocket" maximum and budget a little more annually for emergencies: Traditional Medicare has no limit on out-of-pocket spending for hospital or doctors' services. But Medicare Advantage plans have annual out-of-pocket limits. On average, the out-of-pocket limits for Medicare Advantage plans is ,037 this year, but limits can be as much as ,700. Check the booklet that came with your plan, or call your plan's customer service number. It's a good idea to budget more than the out-of-pocket maximum for goods and services not covered by Medicare or your plan. For example, your plan may cover eye exams but not glasses. It's also good to have more the out-of-pocket maximum set aside in case you should ever require hospitalization..For more tips like these to save on your Medicare costs and to maximize your Social Security benefits, sign up for The Senior Citizens League's Social Security & Medicare Advisor newsletter here or call for more information..President Trump announced last week that there will be a new type of Medicare prescription drug plan that will cap insulin costs at per month for some seniors who have diabetes. While TSCL applauds that as far as it goes, it is woefully short of what is needed. … Continued

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The news media has me confused regarding what is included in the CPI. I understand, according to the media, that the CPI does not include food or fuel. I wondered how that could be since they would be two of the largest items in the CPI?.This week, The Senior Citizens League was pleased to see support grow for two key bills..Patients and their families want to know if the medication will help slow the progression of cognitive decline, especially in view of the serious side effects it can cause, but doctors have no definitive answer yet. The rate and progression of cognitive decline varies widely among people who have started experiencing memory and thinking problems. Thus, it is difficult to quantify how much of a difference the drug would make for a given patient. … Continued

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