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Under Medicare Part D, the government does not negotiate prices like it does for doctors' or hospital fees. Drug prices are established by the private insurers who run Part D drug plans. Those prices are based on what the plans negotiate with drug manufacturers and what drug plans want to make on the drugs in order to operate at a profit. Under current law, however, even when drug plans negotiate a rebate, the law does not require that plans pass the savings along to consumers..Last year, more than one-fourth of participants in TSCL's Senior Survey reported that they had received a "surprise" medical bill in the past 12 months. While surprise medical bills can refer to any number of situations, including a sudden cost increase for prescriptions, recent legislation passed in December of 2020 addresses a certain type. Specifically, medical bills that a patient unexpectedly receives when treated by an out-of-network provider at an in-network facility..This estimate is still just that - an estimate. The 2020 COLA is based on CPI data through September 2019 and won't be announced until October. Inflation could start going up again, but with the first five months of data so low, we are likely to see another low COLA in 2020..In December of 2020, about 1.9 million people, or about 3% of all Social Security beneficiaries, were affected by WEP. This provision applies to workers who are entitled to both Social Security benefits as well as to pension benefits from employment not covered by Social Security. School teachers and firemen are two good examples. Before 1983, those whose primary employment wasn't covered by Social Security could still receive the full amount of any Social Security benefits they may have earned, assuming they had worked long enough to qualify. Today though, people affected by the WEP must have their benefits calculated using a different benefit formula. The WEP can reduce Social Security benefits by up to half the amount of the individual's pension from non-covered work.."The Cuts To A Major Disability Program In Trump's Budget," Jacqueline Alemany, CBS News, June 1, 2017..The previous changes have not only resulted in cutting the growth of COLAs received by Social Security recipients, but those of military retirees and COLA recipients in all other federal benefit programs as well. They came after a 1996 government commission headed by economist Michael Boskin said the CPI overstated the rate of inflation, and thus "overpaid" COLA recipients. Proponents of slowing COLA growth today make the same argument..In 2012, the GPO reduced the Social Security benefits of nearly 600,000 surviving spouses, who also collect a government pensions, by nearly two-thirds. Nine out of 10 public employees affected by the GPO lost their entire spousal benefit, even though their spouse paid Social Security taxes..In the days ahead, The Senior Citizens League will keep a close eye on the evolving budget negotiations, and we will continue to advocate for legislative solutions that would strengthen and protect your Social Security and Medicare benefits. For updates, follow us on Twitter or visit the Legislative News section of our website every Friday morning.."People who have been receiving benefits for 12 years or longer have experienced an unprecedented series of extremely low cost-of-living adjustments," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. What's more those inflation adjustments do not account for rapidly rising Medicare Part B premiums that are increasing several times faster than the COLA. The situation is causing those with the lower Social Security benefits to see little growth in their net Social Security income after deduction of the Part B premium.