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According to the lobbying arm of the major drug companies, in 2018, nearly half of the money spent on brand medicines went to some business other than the research companies that discover and manufacture medicines..Obama Signs Extensions into Law.And while Social Security benefits have flat-lined since 2010, retirees report that household expenses are still climbing - causing people to spend retirement savings more quickly and to go into debt. This year Social Security recipients received no COLA at all, but 73 percent of survey participants reported that their monthly expenses grew by more than over the past twelve months. Things aren't likely to improve soon. The Social Security Trust Fund trustees estimate that the COLA in 2017 will be just 0.2 percent - just .00 for ,000 in benefits..Drug prices in the U.S. are much higher than in other developed countries, because there are no federal laws regulating prices. In fact, the law specifically forbids Medicare from negotiating prices on behalf of its beneficiaries. Allowing the importation of prescription drugs from countries such as Canada, where drugs are less expensive, has the potential to lower drug costs for both U.S. consumers and the federal government..High Dose and Adjuvanted Flu Vaccine Side Effects.If you were to start your own retirement benefit now, your benefit would be permanently reduced, and you would be giving up potentially tens of thousands of dollars in long-term Social Security income. If you delay starting Social Security as your husband is doing, you receive 100% of your own benefit at your full retirement age. The Social Security Administration has a retirement age calculator to help..TSCL will keep a close eye on the negotiations as they evolve in the coming weeks, and we will encourage lawmakers to avoid another government shutdown. For updates, visit the Legislative News section of our website, or our new account on Twitter..The main point is that this program would be limited in scale, and only available in certain types of plans, which means only in certain areas of the country. The premiums of these plans would be higher for all enrollees due to the capping of the cost of insulin to the patient, but not actually lowering the cost of insulin overall. That means the supplemental insurance plan would still be paying the full cost of insulin that is charged by the drug companies. To pay for that, the insurance companies would likely increase the costs of their Medicare supplement plans to all who are covered, not just those who are diabetic..Six Tax Moves To Make Before Year End