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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not announced his health care priorities for the Senate this year. He still refuses to bring the bi-partisan Grassley-Wyden bill that would lower prescription drug prices up for debate on the Senate floor so that may be one of the reasons he has not issued information about his priorities..My pulmonologist ordered a CT scan, but the person scheduling appointments said they first had to check my insurance. Is this correct? I'm covered by Medicare and a Medicare Advantage plan. I thought I would be covered for any medically necessary CT scan..An estimated 39 million Medicare beneficiaries spend up to 29 percent of their Social Security benefits on healthcare costs, according to a new survey by The Senior Citizens League. "That's a huge chunk of one's household budget, and chances are that many of those people are paying too much for premiums, deductibles, and out of pocket costs," says Mary Johnson a Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. "One of the best financial moves that Medicare beneficiaries can make is to review health and drug plan coverage and compare options during Medicare's Fall Open Enrollment Period, which starts October 15 and runs through December 7, 2021," Johnson says. "For many people, it could potentially save hundreds of dollars, making the difference between having to split pills or going without, versus to covering all prescriptions and still winding up with a little cash left over," says Johnson, who helps her friends and family with the task..The Senior Citizens League understands that Social Security beneficiaries today cannot afford any cuts to their benefits. Since 2000 alone, their benefits have lost 23% of their purchasing power. Instead, to improve the financing of the Social Security trust fund, TSCL is urging lawmakers to strengthen the program responsibly without benefit cuts..Also this week, two new cosponsors signed on to Rep. Allyson Schwartz's Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act. Reps. Tim Walz and Eliot Engel signed on, bringing the cosponsor total up to twenty-six..One of the first tax cuts to expire under the recent tax law is likely to disproportionately affect older taxpayers and others with the highest healthcare costs starting in 2019, says The Senior Citizens League. "The medical expense deduction will become less generous in 2019, and that is likely to affect older taxpayers, because they tend to have high medical expenses," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. "A less generous healthcare cost deduction could mean higher taxable income next year," she cautions..By Jessie Gibbons, Senior Policy Analyst.Second, the end of the 2020 fiscal year is drawing ever nearer, and Congress needs to pass legislation to fund the government for fiscal year 2021, which begins on September And finally, the end of July and beginning of August, the month that Congress traditionally is in recess..Rushed or pressured to sign papers. Is the salesman or dealer herding you into an office and telling you to sign now or lose your deal? That's a sure sign it's a deal worth missing.