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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

AARP: “Fiscal Cliff” Talks Put Retirement Security at Risk for AZ Seniors

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Wednesday, December 5, 2012   

PHOENIX - Arizona seniors face smaller Social Security checks and higher health premiums if certain proposals in the "fiscal cliff" negotiations are adopted, according to an analysis by AARP Arizona.

The study shows the actual dollar impact of proposed changes to Social Security and Medicare that could be part of a last-minute budget deal. One change, says Cynthia Fagyas, AARP Arizona communications director, would involve using a different formula to calculate the annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA.

"That would be roughly taking about $2.3 billion out of the pockets of Arizona seniors over the next 10 years. Nationwide that would be about $112 billion."

Another proposal, to raise the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67, would leave more than 118,000 Arizonans without health coverage, Fagyas says.

Members of Congress and the president must reach a deal on spending and taxes by year's end to avoid steep tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts.

Fagyas says raising the Medicare age to 67 could increase total health insurance premiums for those displaced from the program by $2,200 a year. Removing younger, healthier seniors from Medicare would also mean higher costs overall, she says.

"The 65- to 66-year-olds would be probably forced into the private market, and that would shift the cost to seniors who are older."

Even with the coming health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, she says, 65- and 66-year-olds would likely pay three times more than younger people for private coverage.

Nearly 800,000 Arizonans receive Social Security benefits, averaging a bit more than $14,000 a year. Fagyas says Social Security makes up 62 percent of a typical older Arizonan's income.

"Actually, about 31 percent of Arizona seniors are lifted out of poverty because of the Social Security benefit. So, it literally keeps many, many seniors from falling below the poverty line."

She says Social Security pumps nearly $15 billion a year into the state's economy.


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