This week, lawmakers in the House and Senate remained in their home states and districts for the remainder of the two-week spring recess. Both chambers are scheduled to be back in session by Tuesday, April 25th..H.R. 2787, CPI for Seniors Act If adopted, H.R. 2787 would mandate the monthly formulation and publication of a consumer price index specifically for senior citizens for the purpose of establishing an accurate Social Security COLA for beneficiaries..This is a problem that affects retirees enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans much more so than those who have Medigap supplemental coverage which allows enrollees to see any provider that accepts Medicare. To reduce the costs of care, and to keep premiums low for consumers, Medicare Advantage plans contract with doctors and hospitals to create networks. Cost is a predominant concern and, in the process, plans create networks that exclude higher cost providers..Under current law there are two sets of rules for payment of Social Security benefits to immigrants who worked illegally, depending solely on the date in which the individual was assigned their Social Security number by SSA..However, as you may already suspect, that's not necessarily the way our government calculates the change in price. The federal government doesn't simply calculate the difference in cost of navel oranges from one period to another. If another type of orange, such as Valencia is priced lower, at .39 per pound in June when navel oranges are .49, then our government assumes you buy the lower-cost orange, whether or not you actually do so. The price change from .39 in December of 2018 for the navel oranges to .39 in June of 2019 for the Valencias would show no price increase at all for oranges. It would show prices are flat, and that would be reflected then in the overall CPI. One obvious problem is the fact that consumers can't always readily substitute lower-costing items in certain expenditure categories, especially for things like medical services and prescription drugs..On the heels of Greenspan's recent statement, President Obama's Fiscal Commission is due to release itsplan to solve the growing U.S. deficit by December 1st of this year. The Commission is eyeing major cuts to Social Security - including cost-of-living adjustments cuts that would affect 53 million current beneficiaries..TSCL supports the "No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act" introduced by Representative Dana Rohrabacher which would ban the use of earnings for jobs worked while illegal to be used to determine entitlement..On Tuesday, just hours before a 21 percent pay cut for physicians was set to take effect, the Senate approved legislation to repeal and replace the SGR the flawed formula that determines reimbursement rates for doctors who treat Medicare patients. The bill, which was passed by the House two weeks ago, was adopted on Tuesday with a vote of 92-Shortly thereafter, President Obama released a statement saying that he "will be proud to sign it into law.".If we closed this loophole, we could ensure that Social Security continues paying full benefits to every single American who pays in, just as they were promised.
