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UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL SECURITY: Disability Pay Barely Beats Poverty
Glenn Sklar, Deputy Commissioner of SSA’s Office of Disability Adjudication & Review, testified recently before a House subcommittee that oversees the Social Security program. Sklar reminded the subcommittee that the Social Security Act mandates “a strict standard of disability” and does…
Mother’s death offers lessons for managing affairs
My mother passed away about six months ago, and my dad just recently finished off his financial tasks on dealing with her Social Security, credit cards, auto insurance, funeral homes and cemeteries. We both learned a lot in the process…
A fact check on the Washington Post’s “fact check” on Social Security
Glenn Kessler, writer of the Washington Post’s Fact Checker column, took a stab today at correcting some common misconceptions about Social Security. He appropriately debunked the common and ignorant slander of the program as a “Ponzi scheme.” He explained why President George W. Bush’s…
Conservatives Say War on Poverty Failed
Conservative lawmakers argued Wednesday that former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty has been a failure, even as they acknowledged its role in reducing the percentage of poor Americans 50 years later. “While this war may have been launched with the…
Seniors, It’s time to learn about your 2014 government benefits
You’re never too old to do some math, especially if you’re planning to retire this year or are already in your golden years. It’s time to tally up how your government benefits will be changing in 2014 so that you can…
Medicare open enrollment is over… now what?
Chautauqua County seniors (and OFA HIICAP counselors) made it through the 2013 Medicare Open Enrollment period. But many area seniors are asking what happens now? January is the month when new healthcare plans take effect, EPIC enrollments are verified and…
The $150 Billion Question: How to Pay for a Permanent SGR Repeal
It is a rarity nowadays: Bipartisan and bicameral support for a substantive legislative reform. It currently exists for a temporary and possibly a permanent repeal of the unpopular Medicare sustainable growth rate, which threatened to impose a sharp decrease to…
Jobless Benefits Face Trouble in House
The Senate’s narrowly approved extension of unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless “would be very difficult to pass in the House,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn told Newsmax on Tuesday. “Conservatives are not in favor of passing it, certainly not without offsets,” the…
Social Security must plan long-term for leaner future, IG says.
The Social Security Administration must lay out long-range plans to meet a mounting workload with tighter funding, the agency’s inspector general says in a newly released overview of pressing management challenges. As the number of applicants for retirement and disability benefits grows by…
Rep. Kevin Brady: Get Feds ‘Out of the Way’ to Help Jobless
Extending the emergency unemployment program won’t help out-of-work people find jobs; that will come only by “getting Washington out of the way” and tackling a “terrible tax code” and Obamacare, Texas Republican Rep. Kevin Brady said Tuesday. The chairman of the…