Latest News
GAO: Public SSDI claim help mostly a mystery
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has no good way to track how state and local agencies are using outside Social Security claim advocates to help people apply for SSA benefits. Investigators at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), an arm of…
New Poll by The Senior Citizens League Shows Social Security Recipients Think Government Manipulates CPI Data
People who receive Social Security benefits overwhelmingly think the federal government is manipulating consumer price index (CPI) data, according to a new poll by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). When asked, “Do you believe the government is manipulating the CPI…
6 ways to make your retirement funds live longer
Planning for retirement these days can be daunting, as people are living longer, healthier lives. According to the Social Security Administration, 65-year-old baby boomers can expect to live to the age of 84.3 years old if they’re men and 86.6…
Gov. Quinn signs retirement savings bill
Gov. Pat Quinn said a bill he signed Sunday will give 2.5 million workers in Illinois a new way to save for retirement without relying on Social Security alone. The Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program, established by the bill, creates a…
Hospitals Feeling Pinch from Reduced Medicare Payments
Financial penalties for hospitals under the Affordable Care Act are making themselves felt locally and nationwide. Hospitals whose rate is judged too high for hospital-acquired conditions or presumably preventable conditions — such as infections patients acquire in the hospital — get…
Ongoing slowdown of U.S. health care cost increases may not be sustainable
U.S. health care spending grew 3.6% in 2013, capping a five-year stretch of historically low growth, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in December. That’s good news for health care payers, but is the slowdown — which was the…
Astrue Doesn’t Think Much Of OPM’s Screening Of SES Candidates
Former Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue doesn’t think much of the job that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) does in screening applicants for top level jobs in the Senior Executive Service (SES). Here are some quotes from a recent…
3 Social Security Facts You Need to Know in 2015
For the most part, Social Security is a straightforward concept. You pay taxes to the program throughout your working life, and then, upon reaching retirement age, you collect monthly benefits based in large part on the amount you paid into the…
Representative’s View: Jobs, rebuilding America, service, reform top 2015 agenda
Finding bipartisan support to create more good-paying jobs, protect our environment, return more federal tax dollars to our region, reduce the deficit, rebuild America by ending costly wars of choice and nation-building abroad while also delivering top-notch constituent services leads…
Cruelly high cost of drugs in U.S.
We Americans pay more for medicines than almost any other industrialized nation in the world. here are just a few shocking examples of drug company profiteering in recent years, according, in part, to a superb 16-page report and analysis by…