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How the Categories Compare Between the CPI-W and the CPI-E.It would: require Medicare to negotiate lower Part D drug prices, allow individuals to import prescription drugs from Canada, require greater price transparency from drug manufacturers, accelerate the closing of the Part D "doughnut hole," restore drug rebates for low-income seniors, and put a 0 monthly cap on prescription drug spending for individuals. Together, these changes would dramatically reduce drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries. In the coming months, TSCL will continue to work towards its passage in Congress.."Importation of Drugs into the United States From Canada," Nigel S. B. Rawson, PhD, Louise Bender LLD, CMAJ, June 19, 2017 posted on the National Institute of Health website. "Florida Wants to Import Medicine From Canada. But How Would That Work?" Selena Simmons Duffin, NPR, June 18, 2019..TSCL Announces Support for New Legislation.Adding to the confusion, the program will affect beneficiaries differently depending on the area of the country in which they live, and how they are getting their supplies and durable medical equipment. Effective July 1, 2013, in most cases if you have "Original" Medicare coverage and get items in the new program areas, Medicare will only help pay for these items if they're provided by contract suppliers..If you are leaning towards refinancing your home, look carefully into the closing fees. Will you be paying any closing costs out-of-pocket or will those costs get rolled into the loan? How would that affect monthly payments?Based on your credit profile, what interest rate do you actually qualify for, and how does that compare with what you are currently paying?.At my urging, she returned to her doctor and was given a new brand prescription.The Social Security Administration announced today that the 2020 COLA will be just 1.6 percent, continuing the worrisome trend in which COLAs have averaged just 1.4 percent from 2000 to 20"Adequate COLAs are critical to retirement security," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. "Social Security is one of the only types of retirement income that provides this essential protection against rising costs. "When a retiree's costs rise faster than their COLA, the buying power of Social Security benefits erodes, leaving people with a benefit that doesn't go as far as it did when they first retired," Johnson notes. According to research by Johnson, Social Security benefits have lost 33 percent of buying power since 2000..Third, the Standardizing Electronic Prior Authorization for Safe Prescribing Act of 2018 gained three new cosponsors in Representative Todd Rokita, Representative Jackie Walorski, and Representative Roger Marshall, bringing the new cosponsor total to six. If signed into law, H.R. 4841 would allow for and standardize electronic prior authorization for Medicare Part D beneficiaries.