All posts by rebecca

Position Paper: Social Security Fairness Act

The Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) were enacted in 1977 and 1983 respectively as amendments to the basic Social Security law. These provisions reduce Social Security benefits for public sector retirees who receive a public pension or the ... Read more

Pandemic Food Benefit is Set to End, and Seniors Risk Additional Food Insecurity

Next month, a pandemic-related benefit increase for participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program, often referred to as food stamps, is scheduled to expire. The change could come despite advocates warning it will put many seniors at a higher risk fo... Read more

Drug Corporations Plan Price Increases on Life-Saving Medications Despite Billions in Increased Profits

Major pharmaceutical corporations are set to increase prices on over 350 unique medications this month, continuing a trend of drug industry profiteering, according to Accountable.US and Reuters. A previous Accountable.US report showed that many of these companies and the trade gr... Read more

Democrats Debate Whether President Biden Should Negotiate with Speaker McCarthy on Debt Limit

House lawmakers and the White House continued to spar last week over whether to include Social Security and Medicare in negotiations over raising the debt limit. President Biden has steadfastly pledged not to cut the programs, insisting that the debt ceiling should be addressed �... Read more

HHS Announces Key Dates for Implementation of Medicare Drug Price Negotiation

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced key 2023 dates for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program which lowers drug costs for millions of Americans. For the first time in history, because of the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare will have the ... Read more

House GOP’s Plans to Cut Social Security and Medicare Advance

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said last Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Republicans don’t plan to alter benefits for current Social Security and Medicare recipients. However, at least 127 members of the House Republican Study Committee have released a budget for fisca... Read more

Ohio Alliance Files Voting Rights Lawsuit Over New Photo ID Requirement

The Ohio Alliance, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, Ohio Federation of Teachers and Union Veterans Council have filed a lawsuit over an Ohio law requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls. Previously, voters had been able to show alternative forms of identification,... Read more

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – And His Statements Concerning Health Care

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday, January 16, and many of Dr. King’s words remain as relevant today as they were during his lifetime. On March 25, 1966 in Chicago, at a press conference before his speech at the second convention of the Medical Committee for Human Rights,... Read more

House Investigation into Alzheimer’s Drug Places Blame on FDA, Biogen

The Food and Drug Administration’s process for approving the Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, despite great uncertainty about whether it worked, was “rife with irregularities,” according to a congressional investigation. The report also criticized Biogen, Aduhelm’s manufacture... Read more