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The "Medicare Notch" could affect a growing number of people if inflation remains unusually low while Medicare premium increases are relatively high. With no COLA in 2011 as the Social Security Trustees predict, people protected by the hold harmless provision in 2009 would continue to pay .40 per month, people who enrolled in 2010 would continue to pay 4 because now they would be protected by hold harmless, but new enrollees in 2011 would pay an estimated 0 per month..Congress Departs Without Passing New Economic Relief Bill and why it Matters to Seniors.For more.H.R. 1553, Fair COLA for Seniors Act If adopted, H.R. 1553 would base annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustments on the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers..President Trump announced last week that there will be a new type of Medicare prescription drug plan that will cap insulin costs at per month for some seniors who have diabetes. While TSCL applauds that as far as it goes, it is woefully short of what is needed..Again, thank you for participating in the legislative process by signing the petition. It is my hope that you will continue to keep me apprised of your interest in issues important to you as my colleagues and I continue our work during this 113th Congress.The past two years without a cost-of-living adjustment felt like the government clamped a lid on benefits. Now a Congressional debt reduction committee is working on a plan that's likely to keep your COLA "chained" down in the future by switching to a more slowly-growing "chained" consumer price index..Phasing in an increase in the payroll tax rate for workers and employers from 6.2% to 7.4% each over a period of twenty years. The gradual growth would mean an extra 50 cents in taxes per week each year for the average worker..In addition, the Social Security Fairness Act gained one new cosponsor in Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, bringing the cosponsor total up to 16If signed into law, H.R. 1205 would repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision two Social Security provisions that unfairly reduce the earned benefits of millions of public servants each year..Medicaid, the state and federal program that provides healthcare for low-income Americans, is undergoing a massive expansion with the start of the Affordable Care Act. The fairness of that expansion for seniors is drawing closer scrutiny from TSCL.