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According to the most recent Social Security Trustees report, Social Security already pays out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes. In 2019, Social Security paid ,047.9 billion in benefits versus receiving 4.5 billion in payroll tax revenues. Taxation of the benefits of retirees provides another .5 billion in revenues, and .8 billion is money from "interest" earned by the assets of the Social Security Trust funds, special non-marketable bonds. Social Security trustees forecast that the program will be depleted by 2035..TSCL consists of vocally active senior citizens concerned about the protection of their Social Security, Medicare, and veteran or military retiree benefits. TSCL was first established as a special project of The Retired Enlisted Association. On January 1, 1995, TSCL became an independent 501 citizens' action organization..TSCL believes that the Medicare prescription drug benefit law is flawed, and will be carefully monitoring the effects of both the short-term Medicare drug cards, and the Medicare Drug Benefit plan in Medicare Part D as it traverses through the donut hole for many seniors. TSCL considers it necessary to compile feedback on the measure of success or failure of the program and its donut hole phase.."The side effects of the drug, to be sold as Aduhelm by maker Biogen, are troubling and the cost is staggering, at ,000 per year 'forever,' doctors told STAT. More than one-third of trial participants developed brain swelling and 17% to 19% had small bleeds in their brains.".TSCL Releases 2018 Loss of Buying Power Study.In counting out-of-pocket spending, Medicare does not include the cost of monthly Part D premiums or the cost of any drugs that aren't listed on your drug plan's formulary. And, even after hitting ,350, out-of-pocket spending would not end there, because Part D has no annual out-of-pocket maximum. The TrOOP cost is the amount you must spend before you qualify for the catastrophic stage of Part D coverage, when Medicare steps in and co-insurance goes down. But you still are required to pay a minimum of .60 for generic drugs or a 5% coinsurance for brand drugs..The government negotiates prescription drug prices for Medicaid and for veterans, but it is barred from doing so for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. As a result, senior citizens enrolled in Part D often pay much higher prices for their prescriptions than other Americans. Will you support the bipartisan Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act ?.Agreeing on methods of payment has proven to be the most difficult task. One conferee, Sen. Jon Kyl stated this week: "The way our Democratic colleagues have been approaching offsets, there's just not much of anything that they seem willing to agree to, so I'm pretty pessimistic that we can get that done.".TSCL's estimate of average Medicare costs includes: