Our Educational Videos Medical Center EntAt their convention in July, delegates of the Republican Party approved a platform focused on reducing the national debt. Their document begins by stating: "We reject the old maxim that Social Security is the 'Third Rail' of American politics, deadly for anyone who would change it. The Democratic Party still treats it that way, even though everyone knows that its current course will lead to a financial and social disaster." The focal point of their plan is cutting government waste, encouraging economic growth, and balancing the budget even if that means making significant changes to programs like Social Security..A tax reform plan being floated by the House GOP would meet strong opposition from activists and older voters, warns The Senior Citizens League. The plan would end the 12.4 percent payroll tax that funds the monthly checks of about 60 million current Social Security beneficiaries. "This proposal would sabotage Social Security for both current and future Social Security recipients," warns Mary Johnson, Social Security policy analyst for TSCL..TSCL Endorses New House Bill … Continued
Mercy Hospital Services Joint Replacement CenterMore than 5 million Social Security recipients with the lowest benefits are unlikely to see any net growth in their monthly checks after deduction of the Medicare Part B premium in 2019, according to a new analysis released by The Senior Citizens League. This will occur despite their receiving the highest cost-of-living adjustment in seven years. Those affected have a gross Social Security benefit of about 5 per month or less before deduction of the Part B premium. According to the analysis, the dollar amount of their Part B premium increase will be more than the dollar amount of their COLA. "This would make the fourth year in a row that this particular group has not seen a boost in their net Social Security benefits after the deduction for Medicare Part B premiums," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for the League.\.According to the findings of a new report released by The Senior Citizens League, Social Security benefits have lost 34 percent of their buying power over the past eighteen years due to growing costs and inadequate cost-of-living adjustments. For every 0 a retired household spent in 2000, the same household can only buy around worth of goods and services today..The letter and the fact sheet leave out the most important part of the calculation - the additional lifetime income that one could expect to receive over a 20 30 year retirement, if one delays benefits up to age 70. That can add up to tens of thousands of dollars if you are in reasonably good health. In fact, Social Security's publications tend to imply that people get about the same amount of benefits if they start benefits early because they receive the reduced benefit over a longer period of time. That isn't necessarily the case. … Continued