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President George W. Bush proposed overhauling Social Security into a system of private accounts that would be invested in the stock market. The proposal never was passed into law, due to its unpopularity with the public. Before the proposal could gain traction, the Great Recession pounded the stock market, bringing a temporary end to the idea of investing Social Security payroll taxes into private individual retirement accounts. Between the peak of the stock market on October 9, 2007 and the low in March 2009, equity prices fell 50 percent, proving to many that the fixed benefit structure of Social Security is still desirable..In a statement, Mary Johnson a policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League said this week: "This could be particularly problematic for older, low-income Americans who represent a disproportionate share of Medicaid spending … Capping and adjusting payments to states would take benefits away from millions of low-income families, including disabled and older Americans in nursing homes, all to pay for massive tax breaks for the very wealthiest U.S. households.".Finally, even though the full retirement age is rising, the eligibility age for Medicare is still 6It's important to apply for Medicare three months prior to turning age 6Failure to enroll in Medicare at age 65 might result in costly premium penalties..Given the importance, changes to Social Security should ideally be made only after a full and open debate, separate from the debt limit negotiations. Any changes should be kept as small as possible and phased in over the longest possible period, and they should not affect people who are currently over 50 years of age..This week, lawmakers in the House and Senate remained in their home states and districts for the week-long Independence Day holiday recess. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Monday, July 10th..Despite the optimistic attitudes of the five expert witnesses, those on the Subcommittee seemed hesitant about revamping the payment system this year. One Subcommittee Member, Rep. Michael Burgess stated: "This term, I've seen more work done on this problem than I have any other time that I have been in Congress, but we're still pretty far away from the goal that we all expect to achieve." He went on to say, "We're not likely to end up doing something that will provide that … long-term replacement for the SGR by December 31.".This week, lawmakers continued working on an omnibus spending bill, and The Senior Citizens League endorsed new legislation that would give Social Security beneficiaries an emergency cost-of-living adjustment next year..Plan to compare your drug plan options during the fall Open Enrollment Period that starts October 15th and runs through December 7th. Chances are you will find a much lower-costing plan that will save you a bundle in 2014 if you switch plans..Here is more from the report: "Pfizer, which played arguably the biggest role in 2020's vaccine race, also had a frenzied year politically. In addition to giving roughly million to members of Congress, Pfizer also wrote checks to 1,048 individual candidates in state legislative races.