Social Security Begins Processing Claims to Same Sex Couples
The Social Security Administration has announced they are now processing some retirement spouse claims for same-sex couples and paying benefits where they are due.
“The recent Supreme Court decision on Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, made just over a month ago, helps to ensure that all Americans are treated fairly and equally, with the dignity and respect they deserve.
We continue to work closely with the Department of Justice. In the coming weeks and months, we will develop and implement additional policy and processing instructions. We appreciate the public’s patience as we work through the legal issues to ensure that our policy is legally sound and clear.
I encourage individuals who believe they may be eligible for Social Security benefits to apply now, to protect against the loss of any potential benefits. We will process claims as soon as additional instructions become finalized.”
Buzzfeed details the limits of this announcement:
“The Social Security Administration is limiting payment of claims for same-sex married couples currently to those couples who were married in a state the allows same-sex couples to marry and are “domiciled,” or live, in a state that recognizes same-sex couples’ marriages.
The decision means claims from same-sex couples married where such couples can legally marry but who live in a state that does not recognize such marriages are having their applications put on hold for the time being.”
In our report, “Living Outside the Safety Net” we have urged Washington to change the law so that same sex couples who contribute to Social Security are no longer discriminated against. We have urged SSA to fully implement benefit changes, which come after the Supreme Court’s decision on the Defense of Marriage Age, to ensure that benefit discrimination ends.
Can Your State Afford to Lose Millions of Social Security Dollars?
While some in Washington claim America can’t afford programs like Social Security and Medicare, the truth is states simply can’t afford to lose the economic benefits these programs provide to every community in our nation. We’ve released state-by-state snapshots of how much revenue Social Security contributes to the economy of every Congressional District in each state and US territory.
Families spend $775 billion in Social Security benefits nationwide each year. When 57 million Americans use the purchasing power of those benefits, they are supporting local businesses and state economies with billions of dollars they simply wouldn’t have without Social Security. Unfortunately, this economic reality has been ignored by Washington’s well financed anti-Social Security lobby as it continues to try and convince Congress to cut middle-class benefits.
“You don’t have to be an economist to understand that cutting Social Security benefits, whether through the Chained CPI or other proposals, means less income for families — less money they can spend in their communities and less revenue for businesses coast-to-coast. Targeting families who rely on vital programs like Social Security ignores our real economic problems in favor of a political strategy to cut safety net programs. Members of Congress need to take a look at these state-by-state breakdowns and ask themselves, ‘Can my community afford to lose millions of dollars from our economy? Can my neighbors and families afford to lose the retirement and economic stability Social Security provides?’ Step outside Capitol Hill and the answer is a resounding ‘No.’ ”….Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO
Check out your state’s stats here and the next time someone tell you we can’t afford Social Security, ask them — Can our economy really afford to lose it?
Celebrating Medicare’s Anniversary
Before the enactment of Medicare, 48 years ago, only 50% of seniors had health insurance and 35% lived in poverty. That was a time when even a minor illness or injury could bankrupt older Americans and their families. Fast forward to 2013 and nearly 50 million Americans are receiving guaranteed health care benefits through the Medicare program regardless of their medical condition or income.
Protecting this lifeline benefit for the future is why National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare activists in 50+ cities and towns across the country, have converged on more than 40 Congressional district offices and every single Congressional office on Capitol Hill to deliver Medicare anniversary signs. We’ve asked members of Congress to display the sign on their office door this week to show their support for protecting Medicare’s life-saving benefits.
We’ve also given each Member a special anniversary card reminding them of what millions of average American families already know…exactly why we love Medicare.
Top Ten Reasons Americans LOVE Medicare
1. Medicare provides comprehensive health care coverage for seniors. Since its creation in 1965, Medicare has provided universal health care to millions of seniors.
2. Without Medicare, America’s seniors would lack insurance coverage due to high costs or preexisting conditions. Before Medicare, more than half of seniors lacked hospital insurance. Today, virtually all people ages 65 and over are covered by Medicare.
3. Medicare provides free preventive health screenings. Seniors do not have to pay for Mammograms, Diabetes or Cancer screenings thanks to new provisions in the Affordable Care Act.
4. Medicare provides 36 million seniors prescription drug coverage through Part D. The program will be even better when, thanks to the ACA, the Part D coverage gap known as the “donut hole” will be phased out by 2020.
5. 9 million disabled Americans receiving Social Security benefits also receive health coverage through Medicare.
6. Medicare’s costs rise slower than private insurance. Medicare spending per beneficiary rose more than 400 percent from 1969 to 2009 but inflation-adjusted premiums on private health insurance rose more than 700 percent.
7. Medicare is efficient. Only 1% of traditional Medicare’s spending is overhead compared to 9% for private insurance and 6% for privatized Medicare.
8. Medicare saves lives. Research shows Medicare patients are 20 percent less likely to die within a week of hospital admission than slightly younger patients who do not yet qualify for government insurance.
9. We earn our Medicare coverage. Medicare isn’t welfare. American workers’ payroll taxes fund hospital, skilled nursing, home health and hospice care and premiums cover a portion of the costs for physician visits, outpatient visits and preventive services.
10. Medicare is a social insurance program that works. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why Medicare is universally cherished is that in return for the contributions we make during our working years, we receive guaranteed health benefits.
You can find all of our Medicare anniversary celebration material on our Anniversary website here.
Seniors to Ask Congress “Do You Really Support Medicare?”
Medicare’s 48th anniversary is next week on July 30th. NCPSSM activists will mark the event by visiting Congressional offices in 50+ cities and towns across the country. Advocates will also be delivering Medicare anniversary signs to every House and Senate office on Capitol Hill.
Members will be asked to display the sign on their office door on July 30th to show their support for Medicare. Included in the delivery will be special cards listing the National Committee’s Top 10 reasons why Americans love Medicare.
“In spite of Medicare’s success in keeping America’s seniors healthy and out of poverty, Medicare’s guaranteed coverage is under nearly constant attack in Washington. The budget plan passed in the House would end traditional Medicare, privatize it and leave seniors on their own to negotiate with private insurance companies. It would require seniors to pay $6,000 more each year for fewer benefits, making it harder to choose their own doctors while also giving the wealthiest Americans a massive tax break. Too many Members of Congress who’ve advocated the dismantling of Medicare camouflage their plans with promises to “save” the program. However, the American people know you don’t have to destroy Medicare to strengthen it. That’s the message our activists are delivering directly to Congress on this 48th anniversary.”…Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO
Let’s see how many join our celebration and proudly display their pledge to support Medicare not cut it.
House GOP Plan Shifts Medicare Costs to Seniors
House Republicans on the Ways & Means Committee have released their plans for Medicare. This is the second proposal offering benefit cuts and/or cost shifting for seniors from the Committee, following release of the GOP’s Social Security plan earlier this month:
Congressional Quarterly details their draft legislation:
“The biggest direct change for beneficiaries would be the higher premiums for Parts B and D based on a beneficiary’s income, beginning in 2017. Although beneficiaries with annual individual incomes of $85,000 or more currently pay higher monthly premiums, the draft bill would increase the amount of premiums and the number of beneficiaries paying the higher amounts.
As Obama proposed in his budget, the draft bill would increase the lowest income-related premium from 35 percent to 40 percent, and increase the premiums for other income brackets, with a cap of 90 percent at the highest tier.
The draft bill would maintain the income thresholds associated with those premiums until 25 percent of beneficiaries are subject to the higher premiums. The change would save $56.3 billion over 10 years, according to the CBO.
The proposal also would apply a $25 increase to the Part B deductible in 2017, 2019, and 2021 for new Medicare beneficiaries. The CBO estimated this would save $3.3 billion over 10 years.
Finally, the proposal would add a new $100 copayment for home health episodes for new beneficiaries beginning in 2017, which the CBO estimated would save $700 million over 10 years.”
While some in Congress, including President Obama, claim further means-testing Medicare only impacts “wealthy” seniors, nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, this means-testing proposal will hit 25% of beneficiaries. A Kaiser Family Foundation study found seniors earning just $47,000 will be targeted with these higher premiums. Since when is a $47,000 annual income considered “wealthy?” In Washington, only when it comes to American seniors apparently. This proposal also does absolutely nothing to tackle the rising cost of health care system-wide. Instead, it just passes those costs directly to seniors.
House Republicans say they want your reaction to their plans to shift costs to seniors. So, let’s give it to them. Email Chairman Dave Camp at:
Social Security Begins Processing Claims to Same Sex Couples
The Social Security Administration has announced they are now processing some retirement spouse claims for same-sex couples and paying benefits where they are due.
“The recent Supreme Court decision on Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, made just over a month ago, helps to ensure that all Americans are treated fairly and equally, with the dignity and respect they deserve.
We continue to work closely with the Department of Justice. In the coming weeks and months, we will develop and implement additional policy and processing instructions. We appreciate the public’s patience as we work through the legal issues to ensure that our policy is legally sound and clear.
I encourage individuals who believe they may be eligible for Social Security benefits to apply now, to protect against the loss of any potential benefits. We will process claims as soon as additional instructions become finalized.”
Buzzfeed details the limits of this announcement:
“The Social Security Administration is limiting payment of claims for same-sex married couples currently to those couples who were married in a state the allows same-sex couples to marry and are “domiciled,” or live, in a state that recognizes same-sex couples’ marriages.
The decision means claims from same-sex couples married where such couples can legally marry but who live in a state that does not recognize such marriages are having their applications put on hold for the time being.”
In our report, “Living Outside the Safety Net” we have urged Washington to change the law so that same sex couples who contribute to Social Security are no longer discriminated against. We have urged SSA to fully implement benefit changes, which come after the Supreme Court’s decision on the Defense of Marriage Age, to ensure that benefit discrimination ends.
Can Your State Afford to Lose Millions of Social Security Dollars?
While some in Washington claim America can’t afford programs like Social Security and Medicare, the truth is states simply can’t afford to lose the economic benefits these programs provide to every community in our nation. We’ve released state-by-state snapshots of how much revenue Social Security contributes to the economy of every Congressional District in each state and US territory.
Families spend $775 billion in Social Security benefits nationwide each year. When 57 million Americans use the purchasing power of those benefits, they are supporting local businesses and state economies with billions of dollars they simply wouldn’t have without Social Security. Unfortunately, this economic reality has been ignored by Washington’s well financed anti-Social Security lobby as it continues to try and convince Congress to cut middle-class benefits.
“You don’t have to be an economist to understand that cutting Social Security benefits, whether through the Chained CPI or other proposals, means less income for families — less money they can spend in their communities and less revenue for businesses coast-to-coast. Targeting families who rely on vital programs like Social Security ignores our real economic problems in favor of a political strategy to cut safety net programs. Members of Congress need to take a look at these state-by-state breakdowns and ask themselves, ‘Can my community afford to lose millions of dollars from our economy? Can my neighbors and families afford to lose the retirement and economic stability Social Security provides?’ Step outside Capitol Hill and the answer is a resounding ‘No.’ ”….Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO
Check out your state’s stats here and the next time someone tell you we can’t afford Social Security, ask them — Can our economy really afford to lose it?
Celebrating Medicare’s Anniversary
Before the enactment of Medicare, 48 years ago, only 50% of seniors had health insurance and 35% lived in poverty. That was a time when even a minor illness or injury could bankrupt older Americans and their families. Fast forward to 2013 and nearly 50 million Americans are receiving guaranteed health care benefits through the Medicare program regardless of their medical condition or income.
Protecting this lifeline benefit for the future is why National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare activists in 50+ cities and towns across the country, have converged on more than 40 Congressional district offices and every single Congressional office on Capitol Hill to deliver Medicare anniversary signs. We’ve asked members of Congress to display the sign on their office door this week to show their support for protecting Medicare’s life-saving benefits.
We’ve also given each Member a special anniversary card reminding them of what millions of average American families already know…exactly why we love Medicare.
Top Ten Reasons Americans LOVE Medicare
1. Medicare provides comprehensive health care coverage for seniors. Since its creation in 1965, Medicare has provided universal health care to millions of seniors.
2. Without Medicare, America’s seniors would lack insurance coverage due to high costs or preexisting conditions. Before Medicare, more than half of seniors lacked hospital insurance. Today, virtually all people ages 65 and over are covered by Medicare.
3. Medicare provides free preventive health screenings. Seniors do not have to pay for Mammograms, Diabetes or Cancer screenings thanks to new provisions in the Affordable Care Act.
4. Medicare provides 36 million seniors prescription drug coverage through Part D. The program will be even better when, thanks to the ACA, the Part D coverage gap known as the “donut hole” will be phased out by 2020.
5. 9 million disabled Americans receiving Social Security benefits also receive health coverage through Medicare.
6. Medicare’s costs rise slower than private insurance. Medicare spending per beneficiary rose more than 400 percent from 1969 to 2009 but inflation-adjusted premiums on private health insurance rose more than 700 percent.
7. Medicare is efficient. Only 1% of traditional Medicare’s spending is overhead compared to 9% for private insurance and 6% for privatized Medicare.
8. Medicare saves lives. Research shows Medicare patients are 20 percent less likely to die within a week of hospital admission than slightly younger patients who do not yet qualify for government insurance.
9. We earn our Medicare coverage. Medicare isn’t welfare. American workers’ payroll taxes fund hospital, skilled nursing, home health and hospice care and premiums cover a portion of the costs for physician visits, outpatient visits and preventive services.
10. Medicare is a social insurance program that works. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why Medicare is universally cherished is that in return for the contributions we make during our working years, we receive guaranteed health benefits.
You can find all of our Medicare anniversary celebration material on our Anniversary website here.
Seniors to Ask Congress “Do You Really Support Medicare?”
Medicare’s 48th anniversary is next week on July 30th. NCPSSM activists will mark the event by visiting Congressional offices in 50+ cities and towns across the country. Advocates will also be delivering Medicare anniversary signs to every House and Senate office on Capitol Hill.
Members will be asked to display the sign on their office door on July 30th to show their support for Medicare. Included in the delivery will be special cards listing the National Committee’s Top 10 reasons why Americans love Medicare.
“In spite of Medicare’s success in keeping America’s seniors healthy and out of poverty, Medicare’s guaranteed coverage is under nearly constant attack in Washington. The budget plan passed in the House would end traditional Medicare, privatize it and leave seniors on their own to negotiate with private insurance companies. It would require seniors to pay $6,000 more each year for fewer benefits, making it harder to choose their own doctors while also giving the wealthiest Americans a massive tax break. Too many Members of Congress who’ve advocated the dismantling of Medicare camouflage their plans with promises to “save” the program. However, the American people know you don’t have to destroy Medicare to strengthen it. That’s the message our activists are delivering directly to Congress on this 48th anniversary.”…Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO
Let’s see how many join our celebration and proudly display their pledge to support Medicare not cut it.
House GOP Plan Shifts Medicare Costs to Seniors
House Republicans on the Ways & Means Committee have released their plans for Medicare. This is the second proposal offering benefit cuts and/or cost shifting for seniors from the Committee, following release of the GOP’s Social Security plan earlier this month:
Congressional Quarterly details their draft legislation:
“The biggest direct change for beneficiaries would be the higher premiums for Parts B and D based on a beneficiary’s income, beginning in 2017. Although beneficiaries with annual individual incomes of $85,000 or more currently pay higher monthly premiums, the draft bill would increase the amount of premiums and the number of beneficiaries paying the higher amounts.
As Obama proposed in his budget, the draft bill would increase the lowest income-related premium from 35 percent to 40 percent, and increase the premiums for other income brackets, with a cap of 90 percent at the highest tier.
The draft bill would maintain the income thresholds associated with those premiums until 25 percent of beneficiaries are subject to the higher premiums. The change would save $56.3 billion over 10 years, according to the CBO.
The proposal also would apply a $25 increase to the Part B deductible in 2017, 2019, and 2021 for new Medicare beneficiaries. The CBO estimated this would save $3.3 billion over 10 years.
Finally, the proposal would add a new $100 copayment for home health episodes for new beneficiaries beginning in 2017, which the CBO estimated would save $700 million over 10 years.”
While some in Congress, including President Obama, claim further means-testing Medicare only impacts “wealthy” seniors, nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, this means-testing proposal will hit 25% of beneficiaries. A Kaiser Family Foundation study found seniors earning just $47,000 will be targeted with these higher premiums. Since when is a $47,000 annual income considered “wealthy?” In Washington, only when it comes to American seniors apparently. This proposal also does absolutely nothing to tackle the rising cost of health care system-wide. Instead, it just passes those costs directly to seniors.
House Republicans say they want your reaction to their plans to shift costs to seniors. So, let’s give it to them. Email Chairman Dave Camp at: