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GAO Finds Railroad Retirement Disability Program Fails to Prevent Fraud
Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee ChairmanSam Johnson (R-TX) today released aGovernment Accountability Office (GAO) report finding the Railroad Retirement Board’s (RRB) total and permanent (T&P) disability program, financed in part bySocial Security Disability Insurance (DI) revenues, lacks safeguards to…
Senior and disability advocates block tech buses in protest
Senior and disability advocates blocked two tech buses for half an hour in the Mission District Friday morning to protest rising eviction rates of vulnerable San Francisco residents. Holding banners sporting phrases like “Eviction Free San Francisco,” protestors said the…
Medicare will take bigger bite out of older Americans’ Social Security checks, report shows
Retirees can expect the cost of Medicare health insurance to eat up a bigger and bigger share of their Social Security checks in the future, according to a federal report issued earlier this week. The report, by the trustees who…
Medicare starts countdown to new reimbursement codes
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Thursday the healthcare industry will have to start using new codes on October 1, 2015, when filing for reimbursement for medical procedures. The agency issued a rule that providers, insurance companies and…
The Weakness And Timidity In The Plan To Cut Social Security Disability
Sam Johnson, the Chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, posted a summary of his proposed “Stop Disability Fraud Act of 2014” yesterday. The title makes it clear that he believes that there is…
Tax panel backs bill to help disabled
The House Ways and Means Committee easily cleared a measure that allows people with disabilities to have tax-free savings accounts. Republicans and Democrats widely back the legislation, with roughly 380 House members signed on and 75 Senate sponsors. Both Ways…
Social Security Will Be Bankrupt in 2033
In a report for the American Action Forum, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Gordon Gray and Conor Ryan break down the details of the latest Medicare Trustees report. The Trustees report makes clear that the Social Security program (including its retirement and disability…
Colvin sails through Social Security confirmation hearing
Criticism of President Barack Obama’s nominee to lead the Social Security Administration appeared to evaporate Thursday at a confirmation hearing that featured few questions about controversial service cuts and recent allegations of mismanagement. Carolyn W. Colvin’s hearing before the Senate…
Medicare gets cleaner bill of health, but risks ahead
Medicare and Social Security are looking a bit healthier, but have hardly fully recovered and could need dramatic intervention within a few years, a report out this week by trustees of the federal programs concludes. The annual report from the Trustees…
What are the different inflation indexes?
Different government agencies produce a lot of different price indexes. Broadly speaking, these indexes all show the same large-scale trends over time. Inflation was high in the 1970s and has been low recently. Electronics have gotten cheaper and medical care…