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Congress has the ability to prevent these reductions before they take effect, but the questions is - will it do so? Legislation proposed in 2020 would protect the retirement benefits of individuals who were born in 1960 from declining. But TSCL is concerned that some Members of Congress may balk at taking timely action. To prevent lawmakers from looking the other way, they need to hear from as many constituents as possible to take action to protect retirement benefits. "These are benefit cuts that are directly caused by COVID-19 and should be addressed by emergency legislation, or in a comprehensive bill that would correct this problem. In addition, Social Security benefits still need to be boosted for all retirees," says TSCL's Executive Director, Shannon Benton..Since the start of the first CPI in 1940, the BLS has made changes to how it calculates price inflation - most recently announcing changes to how they collect price data. A new paper reports that the BLS has undertaken several pilot projects in an attempt to supplement and/or replace its traditional field collection of price data with "alternative sources." If that sounds suspicious, you have good reason to ask questions. The BLS Handbook of Methods lists more than 21 changes that economists have made to how they calculate the CPI since 198In most cases the so-called "improvements" tend to slow the measured rate of inflation. That means the growth in COLAs is cut and Social Security benefits grow more slowly over time. In short, this boils down to an erosion in the buying power of your Social Security benefits when, in reality, prices are actually going up..Have health insurance coverage. If you are under the age of 65 and didn't have health insurance for some or part of 2014 you may have to pay a tax penalty. For people who don't have Medicare or Medicaid, the penalty for not having coverage is the greater of 1% of your annual income, or The penalty is rising in 2015 to the greater of 2% or 5 per person.."Social Security: What Would Happen If The Trust Funds Ran Out?" Christine Scott, Congressional Research Service, August 2, 201Debt Limit Analysis, Bipartisan Policy Center, July 2011..Is this you? Watch a video of age - activated attention deficit disorder..If you don't want diabetic testing supplies delivered to your home, you can go to any local store that is enrolled in Medicare and buy them. Ask if the local store accepts "assignment" or the Medicare approved amount as payment in full. If they do not, the store may charge more than the 20 percent coinsurance and any unmet deductible. Shop around. Call your local stores and find out what your copayment would be first if you decide to pick up supplies instead..The COLA will be announced in mid - October and the Medicare Part B premium often is announced by the end of November..By working longer, you may have access to employer-provided health.For more information about town hall meetings near you during the holiday recess, call the local offices of your Members of Congress. For contact information, click HERE.