Groundhog Day for Medicare ‘Doc Fix’
Another year, another last-minute “doc fix” by Congress. Am I the only one starting to feel a little like Bill Murray in the 1993 comedy Groundhog Day? On March 31, just one day before Medicare payments to doctors would have been slashed by 24 percent, Congress approved a short-term patch to delay the payment cuts for another year. This is the 17th time in 11 years that Congress has had to delay the Medicare reimbursement cuts created by SGR (the …
Pushed Out of the Workplace
Have you ever felt like an employer was holding your age against you? If so, you aren’t alone. In these tough economic times, more and more Americans believe they are facing age-based discrimination at the office. In fact, a 2013 AARP study found that nearly 2 in 3 workers ages 45-74 said they have seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace. Of those, a whopping 92 percent said it was very or somewhat common. Nearly 20 percent of the …
How Has Social Security Changed Lives? In Millions of Ways
August 14th marks the 78th anniversary of Social Security. Let’s take a look at how Social Security has influenced people’s lives over the years: On August 14, 1935, at 3:30 p.m., President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. In 2012, about 57 million people received some sort of Social Security benefit. Social Security’s average retirement benefit is a modest $1,268/month. Social Security is a family program that keeps more than 1 million children under age 18 …
Tell Washington Not to Cut Social Security for Current Recipients
President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner are deep into negotiations on a fiscal cliff deal — and unfortunately, the hard-earned Social Security benefits of current retirees, veterans and workers with disabilities are on the table. The chained CPI proposal is positioned as a ‘slight tweak’ to the Social Security cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA). The problem is that for people who have paid into Social Security for decades, many of whom are barely scraping by with an average monthly income of under $1,300, …
Social Security: Bad Deal or Critical Retirement Security?
The AP reported a so-called “historic shift” yesterday. According to one analysis, some of today’s retirees will have paid more in Social Security taxes during their careers than they will receive in benefits after they retire. So is Social Security a bad deal? No way! Just looking at a few examples misses the bigger picture. When you put money into Social Security, you’re buying inflation-protected, guaranteed lifetime income that is not subject to market risk. That’s not something you can get …
‘You’ve Earned a Say’ National Tour kicks off!
AARP is taking the national conversation about Social Security and Medicare on the road! August 3 marked the kickoff of AARP’s You’ve Earned a Say National Tour to engage more Americans in the conversation about health and retirement security and the future of Medicare and Social Security. We’ll be stopping in cities and towns across the country, as well as both the DNC and RNC conventions, the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate debates, state fairs, and AARP’s Life@50+ member event. …
