Last week TSCL was contacted by the office of Rep. Al Lawson (D-Fla.), to ask if we would once again endorse his bill, the Social Security for Future Generations Act. The Congressman first introduced his bill in 2019 but because it did not pass at that time he has now reintroduced it.
This legislation would make targeted benefits increases to students and widow(ers), update the cost-of-living adjustments formula (COLAs) to all beneficiaries, and will close a tax loophole that allows the wealthiest Americans to pay a lower Social Security tax rate.
Changes Designed to Stop “Surprise Billing” Coming Next Year
Last year TSCL supported legislation to stop “surprise billing,” which happened when patients were billed for medical procedures they had thought were covered by their health care insurance, but actually were not.
Congress passed the legislation and it will go into effect next year. While surprise billing happened more frequently to those who were covered by employer-provided insurance, it did happen occasionally to those covered by Medicare.
Congress Still Trying to Find a Way to Pass Health Care Legislation
As we explained last week, the parameters of whatever new health care legislation is passed by Congress this year have been laid out by the Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. We cover these Democratic proposals because they hold the majorities in Congress (although very narrow majorities) and therefore they set the agenda just as Republicans did when they held the majorities.
P.S. Have you had a chance to take our Retirement Survey? Your response to this survey helps The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) bring you better services to meet your needs and priorities.
Could someone you know benefit from any of this information? Please share the news!
For progress updates or for more information about these and other bills that would strengthen Social Security and Medicare programs, visit our websiteor follow TSCL on Facebook and Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment