Senior Beacon SB Eldest & Locally-Owned Senior Newspaper in Southern Colorado
APRIL 2020
Vol. 39:3
Established February 1982
459 Consecutive Months!
Committed To Southern Colorado Seniors For 39 Years And Counting!!
coronavirus-caused
RECESSION WOULD INCREASE NUMBER CLAIMING SOCIAL SECURITY
AN EMERGENCY Social Security and Medicare payroll tax cut could weaken program financing at the same time a Coronavirus caused recession would significantly increase the number of people claiming Social Security, warns The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). “Although many older adults today are putting off claiming benefits to allow their Social Security payouts to grow, they are unlikely
to be able to afford to wait if they lose their jobs, or when the value of retirement account investments are significantly impacted,” says Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. “Social Security and Medicare need to be adequately financed if a recession would occur,” Johnson says. “When unemployment is high,
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there’s less payroll taxes flowing into Social Security and Medicare,” she notes. “Providing a complete payroll tax break to stimulate the economy would only exacerbate financing issues and would be unlikely to make a big enough emergency impact when needed, especially for people who aren’t working,” Johnson points out. For retirees with a 401(k) or retirement savings, a recession would make those lucky enough to have savings more dependent on Social Security, because big changes in equity prices reduce the distributions from those accounts perhaps for several years.
To make matters worse older Americans are at the highest health risk from the coronavirus. “Congress needs to ensure that any big emergency financial stimulus to address a coronavirus caused economic recession, doesn’t put Social Security and Medicare benefits at risk as well,” says Johnson. Safeguarding the health of Americans is of primary importance now. The Senior Citizens League is working for legislation that would help strengthen and boost Social Security and lower out-of-pocket Medicare costs. To learn more, visit www.SeniorsLeague.org.
Covid 19: Salute to Seniors Rescheduled; Services On Hold OLDER ADULTS AS in 1986, the Pueblo County Commissioners established the Department of Housing and Human Services and it became the administrator of the Pueblo County Food Surplus Food Distribution or the Commodity Program as known by most people in Pueblo. Previously the program was under the non-profit agency call Pueblo Action. Older adults as we have all seen are the most susceptible target of Coronavirus or Covid 19. Therefore, the Colorado Gerontological Society is doing our part to prevent the spread of the disease. First and foremost, we have rescheduled the Salute to Seniors to August 22, 2020 at the Colorado Convention Center. We have the
same entertainment line-up. All the vendors will be joining us and we look forward to bringing you a senior expo that exceeds all our expectations. Governor Polis has taken action to keep all residents in nursing homes and assisted living residences safe. All visitors are prohibited unless the individual needs end-oflife compassion care. All essential health care workers are being tested routinely. All essential individuals responsible for deliveries of food, health services, and medicine are dropping items on the door step and being brought into the building by screened staff. If you have questions or need help, please feel free to call 303333-3482 or 1-855-293-6911.