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Under Medicare Part D, the government does not negotiate prices like it does for doctors' or hospital fees. Drug prices are established by the private insurers who run Part D drug plans. Those prices are based on what the plans negotiate with drug manufacturers and what drug plans want to make on the drugs in order to operate at a profit. Under current law, however, even when drug plans negotiate a rebate, the law does not require that plans pass the savings along to consumers..Some agree with the President's stimulative plans, however, many on Capitol Hill have aggressively opposed the extension. House Budget Chair Paul Ryan has been particularly outspoken about the tax holiday, referring to it as "sugar-high economics," and preferring instead a plan that includes comprehensive tax overhaul..Senator Amy Klobuchar introduced S. 62 on January 9, 201It has since been referred to the Committee on Finance..Rural practices and patients deserve a better partner in the federal government when it comes to the health of rural America. History has shown that communities that don't have a reliable healthcare facility struggle to maintain their livelihood..Most physicians do still accept Medicare, and most people insured by the federal program for seniors and people with disabilities have no problem finding another health care provider. But that transition can be tough, particularly for older adults with multiple medical conditions..Your Part D drug plan would never tell you this, but the alarming fact is that there is no limit to what you might spend out-of-pocket for your prescriptions drugs in any given year. While this may not seem like much of a worry if you just take a few common generics, it becomes a far greater concern should you ever need high priced drugs - or have a medication bill of more than 0 per month. That could happen to any of us at any time..On Wednesday, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees released their annual reports on the financial outlook of both programs. As expected, they found that Social Security and Medicare are experiencing long-term financing shortfalls. Social Security's combined trust funds are expected to be depleted in 2034, which remains unchanged from last year's report. Medicare's Hospital Insurance trust fund is expected to be depleted in 2028 two years earlier than the trustees projected last year..At this point, the future of the Social Security tax holiday is unclear, though some believe it may resurface later this year as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction takes up the challenge of reducing the deficit by at least .2 trillion before Thanksgiving..Without an emergency COLA, the financial impact of rising Medicare Part B premiums on beneficiaries is expected to vary significantly. A provision of the Social Security Act known as the "hold harmless" provision guarantees that the Social Security benefits of most seniors and the disabled will NOT be reduced when the Medicare Part B premium increases by more than the amount of that person's COLA. The Part B premiums will therefore be adjusted so that the monthly Social Security benefits of people protected by this provision will not be reduced from one year to the next.