social security benifits and the cost

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  1. ddsurfsca profile image70
    ddsurfscaposted 13 years ago

    My husband is a disabled vet and I could not believe the notice he got in the mail this last month.  Social Security informed him that the cost of living has actually remained the same or even maybe went down, according to the government, therefore they are charging him with an overpayment for the last two years when he got an increase for the cost of living.  So, not only did his check not go up slightly like it usually does, but they deducted what they overpaid him this month.  It is pathetic, and they decided to charge him a co-payment for his health insurance of $550.00 per month before his insurance pays for anything.

    1. Petra Vlah profile image60
      Petra Vlahposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      This is a disgreace and for the administration not to acknowledge tha visible increase of everything is criminal. Who do they think is voting? The young and the restless? What a joke! Seniors have always been the ones to vote and ignoring them may cost the administration a lot more than the few dollars they were supposed to get

      1. Ralph Deeds profile image65
        Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        The Dems in Congress and the Obama administration are the ones who support maintaining Social Security. The GOP wants to "privatze it," i.e. turn it over to Wall Street. The Tea Party position is on Social Security isn't clear. I guess they want the benefits but don't want to pay the taxes required to keep it going.

        1. Petra Vlah profile image60
          Petra Vlahposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          If the administration is aware of the cost of living increas and do nothing to adjust the social security checks (now that they control everything) it is going to cost them big time in Nov.
          Funny (or not so funny) how they could find the money (billions, mind you) to bail out the financial system, but could not find a few millions to help out the seniors. We know the criminal intentions of the Wall Street and the rest of the big guys, but democrates were supposed to be different. I see no difference when it comes to helping the ones in need.

          1. Ralph Deeds profile image65
            Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            My understanding is that increases in SS are based on the Consumer Price Index which has been extraordinarily stable since the crash two years ago.

            1. Petra Vlah profile image60
              Petra Vlahposted 13 years agoin reply to this

              Have you been out shopping, Ralph? I am talking about basic neccessities: the price of bread and milk not champagne and caviar the "experts" eat leaving the crumbs for regular people.
              Let's listen to the consumer and forget about the statistics - you can't take them to the bank and you know it

              1. Ralph Deeds profile image65
                Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                Yes, I have been out shopping recently, and I agree that some prices seem to be going up pretty fast. However the CPI has been around for a long time and the information it's based on is gathered with much care. I've read that the SS formula actually over-compensates for increases in the cost of living. This is a complex subject on which I don't pretend to be an expert (as opposed to other topics in this forum! :-))

    2. Jim Hunter profile image61
      Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Is he disabled due to wounds or accidents while serving or something subsequent to his service.

    3. brimancandy profile image78
      brimancandyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      If your husband is a veteran, he should be able to get healthcare from the VA for free. Both my dad and my brother got free healthcare from the VA, and they both had serious conditions.

      Unfortunately the VA is very slow to act, and VA hospitals are spread very thin. Bush Junior  closed hundreds of them so he could give tax breaks to the rich.

      You should look on google and see if you can find a VA hospital in your area. There may also be programs available to help.

  2. Cagsil profile image70
    Cagsilposted 13 years ago

    Just the fact that SS can come back at you for previously wrong payments is such a criminal act. They should not be able to take money back that was given as part of benefits.

    It's ridiculous. If it was in error, then I can see it. But, not as you explained it, absolutely not. There was no error in payment of benefits...therefore, the SS administration should leave it alone.

    1. kirstenblog profile image79
      kirstenblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I think even when its been an error that results in an overpayment that needs collecting, it can be collected without causing real hardship, say small amounts over a longer time period.

  3. ddsurfsca profile image70
    ddsurfscaposted 13 years ago

    If that made your ears tingle, listen to this.  Right before my husband got really bad, to the point of not being able to walk very well, he was a self employed commercial diver.  He made very good money, which he would put some away for when tax time came, or he would not be able to pay them;  Well, when he became disabled it came on rather quickly because his neck was injured, and his hands and feet to the knees went numb.  He began walking horribly, dragging one foot.  He suddenly could not work anymore.  He ended up with a tax bill of about $75,000, and had no way to pay it.  He went on SSI, and after about 6 or so years, the government decided to get some of their money back, so not only were they charging him $500 co pay on his insurance, deducting a smaller amount for the overpayment, but then took another $365. a month to start paying his back taxes.  They took it out of his check before he even got it.  By the time they were done, he was getting about $630 a month to live on. and still wanted the s$500 then for insurance after that so he would have had only $130 dollars to live on for the month.  Talk about forcing one to sell drugs (kidding)

  4. profile image0
    Wendi Mposted 13 years ago

    I would like to know where these people are living that their cost of living hasn't gone up.

    I live in the "Live Free or Die" state, and just in the past two weeks, the cost of gasoline has gone up 20 cents.

    1. Petra Vlah profile image60
      Petra Vlahposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Everything went up about 30% in the last few years, but we have NO inflation?! The way "the experts" calculate inflation has nothing to do with our everyday reality; it is a made-up mathematical formula that means nothing for the regular person who lives and dies by a different reality - a more concret and sad one

      1. Ralph Deeds profile image65
        Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        And there have been substantial increases in SS benefits until the past two years when inflation has been quite low. (I'm not saying that SS benefits shouldn't be higher.)

        1. Petra Vlah profile image60
          Petra Vlahposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          When you say substantial you mean that $18 to $24 makes a difference in senior citizen life style when the prices of medication (not covered) went up 200%?
          I am far from being a senior citizen, but I do care.
          Why don't you explain to me the coincidence of the last 2 years?! so I will know who is to blame

          1. Ralph Deeds profile image65
            Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Coincidence?? This topic has been discussed and re-discussed many times. For variety of reasons triggered by the mortgage meltdown in 2008 the economy went into a deep recession. Since then inflation as measured by the CPI and other indexes has been quite low. There is no basis for blaming Obama for the recession nor for the slow recovery. He appears to me to have gotten the best recovery package he could out of the Congress.

            How do you like my new avatar?

            1. Petra Vlah profile image60
              Petra Vlahposted 13 years agoin reply to this

              I have never blamed Obama for the recession - that is entirely Bush's doing.

              What I blame the administration for is the fact that in one hand Obama said the recession IS OVER?!!! while people are still losing their homes faster than before - look at September numbers - and the unemployment is very high still.
              I am outrage because of the senior situationand that happened in Obama's watch; they are the ones to vote, not the kids who are more interested in the latest iPod

              1. Ralph Deeds profile image65
                Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                I agree it was a mistake for Obama to say the recession is over. It may be over by some arcane economists definition of so many quarters of growth, but there are too many people hurting to be able to declare the recession is over. I bet Larry Summers fed him that line. Summers is gone. It was a mistake to appoint him.

                1. Petra Vlah profile image60
                  Petra Vlahposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Ralph,
                  you are using the economists opinion any way it serves you best; in one hand you say they were wrong to give Obama the green light and declare the recession over (based on their data - not the reality we all see), in the other hand you defend them and say there is no inflation (again based on their data not on the reality we all see).
                  So which is it, Ralph? It makes no sense to play both sides unless you are a politician, which I hope you are not

                  1. Ralph Deeds profile image65
                    Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                    There was no inconsistency in what I said. There is an accepted definition of the end of recessions according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Here's a discussion which may help--

                    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100920/ap_ … _recession

                    And here is something from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the CPI--

                    http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpiqa.htm

                    Here's an interesting chart which shows inflation as defined by the Consumer Price Index 1913-present:

                    ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/cpi/cpiai.txt

            2. pylos26 profile image70
              pylos26posted 13 years agoin reply to this

              I think your new avatar is cool Ralph… Looks western.

  5. kmackey32 profile image64
    kmackey32posted 13 years ago

    WOW thats just not right.....

  6. ddsurfsca profile image70
    ddsurfscaposted 13 years ago

    He became disabled because while he was in the navy, they had him working in the hydraulics of the ship.  This meant that every so often they had to lub the ship, just like a car. 
       The difference being that the pipes that deliver the hydraulic fluid are about 3 + ft. around.  This job then required some sailor to become a human q-tip.  What I mean is that they took men, wrapped them in coveralls, wrapped their heads in rags, and with other men holding them by the ankles were lowered into the pipes to scrap out the old, dirty, thick black grease.  The navy changed their hydraulic fluid to an organic based phosphate that was also fire resistant.  The long and short of it is that he and others were soaked in it daily.  Later they had them wear protective clothing.  Now, 20+ years later, they are finding that this fluid, called cellulub, when absorbed into your system, did nothing right away.  but they have also done studies that indicate that 20 years later, it causes some cancers, but mostly is makes the bones, the skeletal system, to become soft, causing them to break down under the pressure of a mans weight, and where they touch another bone, they break down.
       Bruce's back and spine, when examined by his doctor, have places that appear to have been fused surgically.  Other places are crumbling slowly, and his spinal fluid has diminished enough that he has a dehydrated spinal cord. 
       His doctor says that his spine looks as though it came from and 80+ year old man, and bruce is 53.  There are things that could be done surgically, like cleaning up places that have splintered, but not one doctor is willing to touch him, for as one doctor said, "There isn't a chance that a doctor is going to come out of this surgery looking good"
       He has a minimum of 4 to 6 disks that need replacing or spacing, and two places that are herniated. All the rest are ground down and are sitting on one another, bone on bone;  it is extremely painful for him and he has days when he really feels like he does not want to be here anymore.  He used to be so athletic, and now he is just depressed.

    1. Jim Hunter profile image61
      Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      If this is directly caused by the work he was doing then he shouldn't be paying anything at all.

      1. Patty Inglish, MS profile image87
        Patty Inglish, MSposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        I agree, Jim, and feel that Bruce should be declared 100% disabled on Veteran's Disability. However, it took one military friend of mine about 30 years to gain this status after his service in the Viet Nam Conflict, in which he suffered injuries/wounds. He tried to work anyway for several years and his physical condition steadily worsened. His x-rays look like he should be bed-ridden. His documentation of deteriorating conditions was so thorough that it was almost like a full-time job fighting his own case. But that's what it took. Bruce seems to be turning into grinding bones and jelly imo and is being charged money. I am aghast. 

        During the Reagan administration, the event that galled me as a healthcare worker was the period of time in which many SSI recipients were cut off benefits without notice. One patient of ours, aged late 50s was in hospital in body cast and arms and legs all in traction from bone and joint deterioration and other problems.She had no family except for a nephew that picked up her mail and checked her apartment for her. Her SSI check just did not arrive. He brought her a govt form letter in a few days from the President's office that suggested that she start her own business, since SSI was no longer available to her. She lost her apartment and needed to apply for SSI all over again. Many people became homeless, while some did manage to go back to work.

        I myself received notice this past summer that full SS benefits will not be available to me until I am 70. We'd been told in public health classes in the mid-1990s that the retirement age would rise at least to 75 in the 21st Century, but many people have not believed it. I like working, though.

  7. profile image0
    Home Girlposted 13 years ago

    I think if you are disabled by a system, you should look for a compensation, a serious compensation. It's a human life they've used and ruined and they have to pay a lot for it. I think that you should start letter writing to the Navy, to all kinds of organisatons helping people in related situations, to the President, may be. It's not his fault, he is so sick, they made him sick and whoever did that HAS to pay! And your task is to get what we call "social justice" because you are entitled to it. If they think they overpaid you for this or that, that is not your problem and you are not supposed to pay for that either. But you have to be very persistent to the point of being "a pain in the neck sort of a person" to get through.

    1. Ralph Deeds profile image65
      Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I agree. Very true.

 
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