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Third, extending the payroll tax cut could make a permanent cut more likely. As of 2009, there were seventy–three "temporary" measures in the books - many of them are now considered as good as permanent. Scott Hodge, the President of the Tax Foundation, recently warned lawmakers about the nature of temporary tax cuts. He stated, "This is going to become a permanent law. Once these things get … cooked in to the system, they're awfully difficult to get rid of.".That means the trust fund reserves money that came out of your paychecks to finance your earned benefits would become unusable by the Social Security and Medicare programs. Here's how that could lead to benefit cuts….don't start feeling better..Representative C.W. Bill Young.Higher out-of-pocket costs: The drawback to MA plans is higher out-of-pocket costs. Where Medigap supplements pay most or almost all of your covered out-of-pocket costs, there are co-pays and deductibles for most services received through MA plans. Depending on the type of MA plan you are considering you may be required to use a narrower network of healthcare providers in order to get the lowest costs. If you are considering an HMO you will be required to use only the doctors, hospitals and providers in the HMO network, or neither the MA plan nor Medicare will reimburse your bills..In last week's update we told you about the pending retirement of Senator Lamar Alexander, who has been a champion of legislation to end surprise medical billing. We feared the effort to end the practice would now be more difficult in Alexander's absence..Since its inception, Medicare has undergone a number of changes. Since 1972 the program has covered disabled persons under 6In the last 25 years, beneficiaries were given the option to obtain services through private managed care arrangements. And most recently, the passage of the Affordable Care Act strengthened Medicare by closing the prescription "donut hole" and expanding preventative services with no deductible or co-pay..To learn more about how work affects your benefits, call the Social Security Administration toll free at and ask for How Work Affects Your Benefits.NOT TRUE. Pfizer has raised the price far too high for seniors on Medicare and living on a fixed income. Prior to the increase, I was paying 4.00 for a 3-month supply, or 6.00 a year. A few days ago I discovered the new price for this year was 8.80 for a 3- month supply or ,915.20 annually.