For the second straight year, millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees can expect historically small increases in their benefits come January.
Preliminary figures suggest a benefit increase of roughly 1.5 percent, which would be among the smallest since automatic increases were adopted in 1975, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. Next year's raise will be small because consumer prices, as measured by the government, haven't gone up much in the past year. The exact size of the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, won't be known until the Labor Department releases the inflation report for September. That was supposed to happen Wednesday, but the report was delayed indefinitely because of the partial government shutdown. The COLA is usually announced in October to give Social Security and other benefit programs time to adjust January payments. The Social Security Administration has given no indication that raises would be delayed because of the shutdown, but advocates for... |
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Sunday, October 13, 2013
Social Security raise to be among lowest in years
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Supplement Benefit Bill for Surviving Dependents of Essential Coronavirus Workers Passed by NJ Legislature
The NJ Legislature has now passed S2476. It provides supplemental benefit payments to the dependents of essential employees who died in the course of employment due to the contraction of coronavirus disease 2019.
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Social Security to be Depleted by 2033
The Social Security Board of Trustees today released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds. The combined asset reserves of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance (OASI and DI) Trust Funds are projected to become depleted in 2034, one year earlier than projected last year, with 78 percent of benefits payable at that time.
Monday, January 25, 2010
NJ Workers' Compensation Revenue Bills to be Shelved
The transition team has made the following recommendations:
Oppose A-5181 (Egan, Evans) / S-639 (Sarlo, Gill): Increases workers' compensation for loss of hand or foot.
Impact: $20 - $25 million in increased costs to the system.
Oppose A-2846 (Greenstein, DeAngelo) / S-785 (Sweeney, Madden): Extends supplemental disability and dependent benefits for post-1979 claims.
Impact: These added benefits would be paid entirely by employers through an increased surcharge in their Workers' Compensation policy. An analysis by the Office of Special Compensation Funds within the Department of Labor and Workforce Development projects the annual cost to New Jersey employers at $125 million with the potential to be significantly higher if this law change caused New Jersey to lose its "reverse offset" benefit from the Social Security Administration.
Oppose S-1982 (Sweeney): Establishes an ombudsman for injured workers in, but not of, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Impact: This would create an entirely new department within the State government with its incumbent salary and administrative costs. This would also duplicate many of the responsibilities now handled effectively by the Division of Workers' Compensation.
Click here to read more about workers' compensation reform efforts.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
7 Problems Facing Work Comp in a Credit Default
White House Photo, Pete Souza, 7/25/11 |
The consequences of a US credit default will be significant. President Obama stated, "If that happens, and we default, we would not have enough money to pay all of our bills -– bills that include monthly Social Security checks, veterans’ benefits, and the government contracts we’ve signed with thousands of businesses. "
1. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and their contractor will be unable to provide conditional payment information under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. Negotiations in workers compensation matters will come to halt.
2. CMS will be unable to approve compromises and releases in advance of workers' compensation disposition thereby halting the State systems.
3. CMS and their agents will be unable to review Medicare Set-Aside Agreements thereby stopping workers' compensation dispositions by compromise.
4. Chaos will erupt in those States where Social Security takes a reverse offset on permanency payments. Workers' compensation insurance companies and employers will become responsible for the entire amount to be paid.
5. The Veterans' Administration will be unable to provide information concerning medical treatment. Records will he held-up and will delay evaluations in adjudications in workers' compensation cases.
6. Tricare and other federal insurance providers will be unable to provide benefit information. The lack of reimbursement data will stymie evaluation of medica reimbursement issues slowing the disposition and settlements of workers' compensation claims.
7. The US Military will be unable to provide Personnel Records and prior medical treatment and claim information.
The potential fiscal impact of a US debt crisis is enormous. Hopefully, the politicians in Washington will reach a compromise and the this crisis will be resolved and everyone can creatively focus on making the compensation system less complicated and more efficient.
Related articles
- The Debt Ceiling and Workers Compensation (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- The Setoff Nightmare: The Pension Well Runs Dry (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Workers Compensation, Pensions and Bankruptcy (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Workers' Compensation Medicare Set-Aside Portal (WCMSAP) (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Failing to Raise the Debt Limit Would Harm the Poor and People of Color (americanprogress.org)
- That Used to Be Comp (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Long Overdue Public Safety Worker Coverage
Legislation has been reintroduced to provide workers’ compensation benefits for certain public safety workers who developed an occupational illness or injury flowing from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A closer look at the legislation reveals that it removes defenses such as causal relationship, statute of limitations, and jurisdiction. Complicated statutory and regulatory challenges may ultimately offset the benefits offered.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Proposed North Carolina Legislation Caps Benefits for Seniors
If passed, the legislation would be more limiting than "reverse offset" language enacted pre-1980 by several states and would follow a recently enacted legislation in Utah to limit benefits for the aged which was declared unconstitutional.
Saturday, October 14, 2017
2018 Social Security Changes - COLA Increases
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Workers Compensation Taxable Rules US Tax Court
The majority of the states permit Social Security to take the setoff. A minority of states allow a reverse setoff where the insurance carrier takes the setoff, and the workers' compensation benefits are reduced.
“Nevertheless, … we are duty-bound to apply the law as written by Congress to the facts as they occurred and not as they might have occurred. Because [the taxpayer's] Social Security benefits were reduced by the amount of workers’ compensation benefits received, that offset amount is treated as a Social Security benefit and is, therefore, taxable,” the court said.
Related articles
- Court Rules Social Security Offset Not Barred by Time (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Employer Fraud is Alive and Well (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Vermont Single Payer System Called the Dawn of A New Era (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Illinois Workers Compensation Maybe Heading for Extinction (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- The Republican Plan: Just End Medicare (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Social Security and Income Tax (nosscr.com)
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Gov. Chris Christie and NJ Workers' Compensation: Declining Approval
NJ continues with high unemployment, a failing infrastructure, steep taxes, a mass migration of both Industry and Labor out-of-the state, high debt, and declining public pension reserves. The State continues with a spiraling rate of income inequality that reflects high and almost unobtainable maximum workers' compensation rates for the vast majority of low and middle income wage earners.
The State's antiquated workers' compensation system continues with a reverse social security offset that favors insurance companies to the detriment of the nation's taxpayers. NJ administratively refuses to allow COLA increases under the Triennial Redetermination Social Security program to those totally disabled workers who receive benefits and NJ continues to allow insurance companies and employers to reap benefits at the detriment of injured employers. NJ still maintains an antiquate, objectionable, obsolescent and costly Second Injury Fund for pre-existing injuries when the vast majority of states have terminated such programs.
Additionally, NJ, that lacks a medical provider fee schedule, continues to control medical treatment by requiring injured workers to obtain only employer authorized medical care and prohibits injured workers freedom to choose their own medical providers.
Unproductive bullying of the public at the NJ Governor's "town hall meetings" has become a trademark of his administration. The excitement and approval of "the entertainment value" of those events in the past caught the attention of the public at the emergence of his administration and allowed him to gain popularity. That has now faded has Governor Christie's public approval, according to recent polls in NJ, is declining.
In the meantime, Gov. Christie criticizes NJ workers' compensation and lacks an announced plan to correct the ailing system.
“'We’re going to be coming up with a package of proposals that’s going to work both sides of that,' Christie told a caller on his monthly NJ 101.5 FM radio show tonight.
'The employers who may not be stepping up and meeting their obligations and also the employees who are committing fraud on the worker’s comp system,' he said."
When the Chris Christie-for-president chatter first started, in 2011, voters in his home state of New Jersey took pride in having a celebrity governor. As Nancy Reagan escorted Mr. Christie to his speech at her husband’s presidential library, and hedge fund billionaires, The Weekly Standard and The Wall Street Journal’s editorial pages urged him to run, his approval ratings jumped. Voters told pollsters the national attention made him more effective, and improved their state’s long-maligned image.
Four years later, with Governor Christie again considering a run for president, his constituents appear to be tiring of the whole routine.
Polls taken over the last three months reveal a list of home-state complaints: Mr. Christie’s favorability is at its lowest point, with more voters disapproving than approving of his job performance. New Jersey residents think he is making decisions with an eye on his national standing rather than on what is good for their state. They do not think he should run for president — they are, as the slogan goes, ready for Hillary — but most expect he will, and want him to resign if he does. Political talk in New Jersey centers less on Mr. Christie running for president and more on which one of three Democrats quietly seeking to succeed him will win — even though that election is three years away.
Click here to read the entire NY Times article.
Related articles
- NJ Governor Christie to Propose Workers' Compensation Reform (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Governor Christie Vetoes First Responder Workers' Compensation Bill (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Who had the worst week in Washington? New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Christie Vetoes Bill That Would Have Prevented Some Truck Drivers From Being Treated As Independent Contractors (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Using Workers' Compensation Records for Safety and Health Research (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
Friday, December 2, 2011
NJ Legislation Seeks To Increase Counsel Fees
"This bill requires that in cases in which a workers’ compensation petitioner has received compensation from an insurance company prior to any judgment or award, the reasonable allowance for attorney fees will be based upon the sum of the amount of compensation already received by the petitioner, and the amount of the judgment or award in excess of the amount of compensation already received by the petitioner. Currently, in cases in which a petitioner has received compensation prior to a judgment or award, a reasonable attorney fee is based upon only that part of the judgment or award that is in excess of the amount of compensation already received by the petitioner."
Related articles
- The Complex World of Workers' Compensation and Pharmaceutical Benefits (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Fallout From The Failure of Super Committee May Cascade Into Workers Compensation Medical Delivery (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Changing the Fundamental Rules of Workers Compensation (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Thousands Rally at New Jersey Capitol to Demand School Choice (prnewswire.com)
- The Setoff Nightmare: The Pension Well Runs Dry (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Temporary Holiday Workers Face Hazards of the Season (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- It is All The Same Apple (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)