If signed into law, the Social Security Fairness Act would amend title II of the Social Security Act to repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision..Dining On A Social Security Budget.That's correct, you can work while receiving a Social Security retirement, or survivors' benefit. The Social Security Administration even says it could eventually mean a higher benefit for you, but it could also mean that your Social Security benefits may be reduced - at least temporarily - when you earn more than the annual limit. In addition, your earnings may subject a portion of your Social Security benefits to taxation..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..The cuts in federal aid to Meals on Wheels programs may end up costing the government if seniors need to move to nursing homes. The Center for Effective Government released a report estimating that the cuts would add 9 million a year in Medicaid costs for the remaining months of fiscal 201The group said that even if only 350 people were admitted to nursing homes due to missing out on Meals on Wheels deliveries and then stayed there at least a year, the savings from the sequester cuts would be lost. The Medicaid share of keeping someone in a nursing home for a year is about ,878..Economic forecasts for 2013 warn of a financial crisis ahead. Nobody is feeling it more acutely than seniors living on fixed incomes. Retirees and disabled adults won't see much of a cost-of-living adjustment increase in benefits this year. At 1.7%, the 2013 is one of the lowest ever paid, not counting 2010 and 2011 when no COLA was payable at all. Timing couldn't be worse..To help protect the buying power of earned benefits, The Senior Citizens League is fighting proposals to cut COLAs. TSCL has developed an online calculator for the public to learn how much a COLA cut would cost in Social Security income. Visit seniorsleague.org/chained-cola-calculator/..table-2.A third option was introduced by Senator Rand Paul in June. His plan would repeal the SGR and base payments on the same formula that is used to calculate cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security benefits. It would cap annual pay increases for providers at three percent, allowing physicians to practice without the threat of annual reimbursement cuts.
