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The COLA isn't living up to the promise of protecting the buying power of your benefits, and retirees are getting short changed. We need to work together to enact legislation that will provide a more fair and adequate COLA. To learn how you can get involved visit:..My Ex-Spouse Died. Would I Qualify For Widow's Benefits Even Though I'm Re-married?.In short, since 2015 Congress apparently forgot about the deficit and went on a spending spree. But suddenly, it has become a crisis again. Or has it become a convenient excuse for doing what a lot of them have wanted to do for a long time: cut Medicare and Social Security benefits?.averages about ,350 per month. But even people who receive care at home spend.This week most members of the House and Senate are back in their districts or states meeting with constituents or otherwise conducting business there. A few have stayed in Washington to take part in hearings that are scheduled this week, although since many hearings are now held virtually, they do not necessarily have to be in Washington..To learn more about how Medicare covers hospital services, see your copy of the "Medicare & You" 2011 handbook that you received last fall, call or visit..That is the bad news..Retirees and disabled Social Security beneficiaries generally have different spending patterns than younger workers. Retirees spend less on gasoline, and a greater portion of their incomes on healthcare costs and housing. The lack of a COLA means that if other costs like prescription drugs increase, retirees have to dig deeper into their Social Security or savings..The government negotiates prescription drug prices for veterans and Medicaid beneficiaries, but it is barred from negotiating lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries. As a result, seniors enrolled in Part D often pay much higher prices than other Americans for their prescription drugs. What are you doing to correct this unfair policy?

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The rapid growth in Medicare Part B costs is consuming an increasing share of beneficiaries' income. What proposals do you support to slow the growth in the out-of-pocket costs?."As the Covid-19 pandemic has sparked a race among drug makers eager to develop a vaccine and improve the industry's standing in Washington - pharma's giving underscores the breadth of its influence and its efforts to curry favor through lobbying and donations to the lawmakers who regulate health care..Better access to quality, cheaper generic prescription drugs will provide real relief for many seniors and their families. With building bipartisan support, I'm very hopeful we can push this important reform through Congress. … Continued

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The suppressed growth in Social Security benefits not only creates ongoing benefit adequacy issues for retirees, but also Medicare budget problems when the COLA is not sufficient to cover rising Part B premiums for large numbers of beneficiaries. When the dollar amount of the annual Medicare Part B premium increase is greater than the dollar amount of an individual's annual cost of living adjustment, the Social Security benefits of about 70 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are protected by the hold-harmless provision in the Social Security Act. The Medicare Part B premium of those individuals is reduced to prevent their net Social Security benefits from being lower than the year before.."In the U.S. arm of the clinical trial, J&J's vaccine was 72% effective, which, in the absence of the mRNA data, 'one would have said this was an absolutely spectacular result,' Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a separate White House briefing. What is more, the immunization was 85% effective at preventing severe disease and, in the trial, all hospitalizations and deaths occurred among people who got the placebo. None of the vaccinated people diagnosed with Covid-19 got sick enough to need hospital care..The government negotiates prescription drug prices for veterans and Medicaid beneficiaries, but it is barred from negotiating lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries. As a result, seniors enrolled in Part D often pay much higher prices than other Americans for their prescription drugs. What are you doing to correct this unfair policy? … Continued