The Senior Citizens League, a group of non-partisan, is pressuring Congress to send another batch of stimulus checks. The group who are advocators of benefits for senior citizens want the checks to be a one-time-only payment worth $1400. They claim that senior citizens need the money to pay off their living expenses.
A Stimulus Check For The Elderly
Rick Delaney, the chairman of the group, had written to leaders in Congress regarding the proposal of the stimulus check. In the letter, Delaney noted that several thousand seniors had reached out to his organization.
They had all talked about their savings for retirement having been exhausted. As a result, they were forced into eating only once every day. They also said that they were only taking half of their prescribed doses of medication since prescription drugs had become too costly for them to afford.
Delaney wrote that these were only some of the worrying steps that many had taken due to this year’s inflation. He added that a lot of seniors believe that the government had forgotten about them.
Mary Johnson, a TCSL policy analyst of Medicare Policy and Social Security, said that one more stimulus checks worth $1400 would do wonders for this demographic. The stimulus check as well as the 6% increase in the living adjustment cost of Social Security (COLA) (that is expected next year), will have tremendous benefits for the senior citizens.
Johnson added that there are multiple reasons why only the increase in COLA is not enough, and why one more stimulus check worth $1400 is needed. She said that a big percentage are in immediate financial distress – about 43% as per their online survey. Moreover, the higher COLA would also mean an increase in the benefit amount that will be subject to taxation.
