Q: How long do you have to be married to claim a Social Security benefit on a husband's account? May I claim a widow's benefit if I work? I married my husband about a year ago at age 61, but he recently died. Both of us ...
Category: Issues
Would Obama’s Executive Action on Immigration Help Social Security’s Solvency?
By Mary Johnson, Editor When President Obama announced his massive immigration executive action last fall, a White House fact sheet said the actions would "expand the country's tax base by millions of people and billi ...
Feds Bust 243 People In Biggest Medicare Fraud Yet
In what the U.S. Department of Justice is calling the largest nationwide crackdown on Medicare and Medicaid fraud ever, some 243 people were recently arrested and charged for bilking Medicare out of $712 million. Those c ...
Why The Social Security Disability Insurance Program Is Going Broke
"Weakness" in the Social Security Administration's policies and procedures is to blame for billions in overpayments of disability insurance benefits, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). More tha ...
One-Third Of Social Security Recipients Have No Other Income
Alexandria, VA: One out of three Social Security recipients, about 31 percent, say they rely entirely on Social Security for all of their income, according to a new survey from The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). With Soc ...
Nearly Half Of Social Security Disability Recipients “Overpaid”
Almost half the people receiving Social Security disability benefits over the past ten years were overpaid, according to a new report from the Social Security Administration’s Inspector General. The finding is raising ne ...
How Older Americans Would Fix Social Security
Fixing Social Security doesn’t necessarily have to require slashing benefits, according to the findings of TSCL’s annual 2015 Senior Survey. Almost 1,200 survey participants weighed in on a range of proposals that would ...
COLA Next Year May Be Zero — Yet Your Housing And Medical Costs Are Jumping
Mary Johnson Cheap gasoline and home heating oil have made plenty of news since last October. The plunge in petroleum prices, the steepest in six years, has also dragged down inflation. In fact, consumer price index ( ...
Benefit Bulletin: August 2015
Does Social Security Provide Enough Income For Today’s Retirees? More people than ever face a lower standard of living in retirement, according to a growing number of troubling new studies. There are several reasons w ...
Social Security & Medicare Questions: August 2015
Q: I’m helping my mother who is 70 with her doctor’s appointments. The doctor recommended a shingles, and a pneumonia vaccine. I know Medicare covers flu shots, but what about these? A: Medicare covers both, but like ...