South Florida Law Professor Makes Case For Expanding Social Security

In an Op-Ed for the Miami Herald, Professor Timothy Canova outlines the need to expand the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program to ensure beneficiaries can live above the poverty line. SSI provides a very basic income to Older and Disabled Adults who do not have any other source of income. However, because it has not been updated since 1972, many of its recipients live on just $733 per month or 75% of the Federal Poverty line. In Florida, about 11% of Seniors live in poverty, the 8th highest in the Nation. The Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act of 2015, introduced as S. 1387 in the Senate by U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (Democrat-Ohio) and as  H.R. 2442 in the House by U.S. Representative Raúl Grijalva (Democrat-Arizona), would update the program and expand benefits for those currently receiving them. It is one of several bills to expand Social Security that the Alliance For Retired Americans supports. “We’re pleased to be supporting this legislation,” Alliance Secretary-Treasurer Ruben Burks said. “Disabled Older Americans ‘should not have’ to live in poverty in the ‘richest Country in the world.’”

Bill Introduced To Rein In Soaring Prescription Drug Prices

U.S Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent-Vermont) and U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings (Democrat-Maryland) have introduced a comprehensive piece of legislation to reduce the price that Americans pay for Prescription Drugs. The measure would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, which would bring down costs for Medicare drug benefits. It would also impose stiffer penalties on drug companies that commit fraud and make it easier for consumers to purchase lower-cost generic drugs. The Alliance strongly supports this legislation which would help Seniors, and all consumers, afford the medicines they need. Read more about the bill here. 

Congress Remains At An Impasse Over Social Security Disability Insurance

The National Journal is reporting House Republicans continue to work on a proposal to reform the Social Security Disability Program to increase the incentive to go back to work, a long-time goal of Congressman Paul Ryan (Republican-Wisconsin). If Congress fails to enact an administrative fix by late 2016, benefits to nine million Disabled Workers and their families will be cut by 20%. “We need to ‘vigorously oppose’ Paul Ryan’s efforts to ‘weaken’ the Social Security system by ‘chipping away’ at pieces of it,” Alliance President Barbara Easterling said. “We will ‘not be drawn’ into a ‘false’ battle between Retirees and Disabled Workers and we will ‘keep working’ to ‘strengthen’ the system for current and future generations.”