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When there is no or a very low COLA, a special provision of law known as "hold harmless" protects beneficiaries when the dollar amount of their COLA is lower than the dollar amount of their Part B increase. The Part B premium is adjusted to prevent a reduction in Social Security benefits from one year to the next. "But when this provision occurs on a program-wide basis - as it did in 2016 and 2017, the entire increase in Medicare Part B for the year is shifted to the people who are not protected by hold harmless, Johnson notes. Instead of the Part B increase being spread over all Medicare beneficiaries, the total cost increase is borne by only 30 percent of Medicare beneficiaries who are not protected by the hold harmless provisions. They include:.Lowering drug prices is a singular area where bipartisan legislation could make it into law this year. On Monday, Senator Jeanne Shaheen in introduced legislation that would cut the cost of insulin by 75% compared with the level expected in 2020. The proposal would create a new pricing model that limits the use of rebates for Medicare Part D and the private insurance market, Sens. Tom Carper, Susan Collins and Kevin Cramer have already signed on as co-sponsors to the legislation..A study found that setting quantity limits increases sales. Shoppers who bought soup from displays with no quantity limits purchased an average of 3.3 cans of soup. Shoppers with limits of 12 purchased an average of 7 cans. Like Velcro, the quantity limit latched onto shoppers' brains..By Rick Delaney."The combination of lower benefits and higher expenses in recent years means many more seniors are already struggling to make ends meet," said Larry Hyland, chairman of The Senior Citizens League. "We agree that Social Security must be reformed in order.In a letter of support to Representative Roybal-Allard, Art Cooper Chairman of The Senior Citizens League's Board of Trustees wrote: "Our supporters nationwide question why the Medicare program has not yet been expanded to include coverage of essential hearing, vision, and dental services, which many employers provide during working years. As such, The Senior Citizens League lends its enthusiastic support to the Seniors Have Eyes, Ears, and Teeth Act, a bill that we believe would go a long way in ensuring the retirement security seniors have earned and deserve.".The income thresholds for the federal poverty levels are adjusted using a somewhat faster growing index than the one used to determine the COLA. Unlike the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which does not survey the costs of people over the age of 62, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers CPI-U includes the spending patterns of both younger workers and people over the age of 6Consequently the federal poverty limits increase somewhat faster than the CPI-W and today's COLAs. The 2016 poverty levels reflect a 0.1% increase over 2015 rather than zero like the Social Security COLA..This week, the White House held its day-long Conference on Aging and The Senior Citizens League announced its support for one new piece of legislation..The receipt for the original purchase with the questioned charge, or if you used a credit card, a copy of the credit card statement.