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In addition, one new cosponsor Rep. Steve Cohen signed on to the bipartisan CPI for Seniors Act. The cosponsor total is now at three in the House. If adopted, it would mandate the monthly formulation and publication of a consumer price index specifically for seniors. Currently, Social Security cost-of-living adjustments are based on the inflation experienced by young, urban workers, but H.R. 2016 would establish a more accurate index for beneficiaries..According to most projections the change would cut benefits by about 7% over 25 years for current beneficiaries. But that estimate doesn't include the full cost of the cut for new retirees. Baby Boomers who have not yet turned age 60 would be hit particularly hard because the COLA is used in the Social Security benefit formula to adjust average monthly earnings once a person turns 60. The adjustment is automatically applied even if people haven't yet filed a claim for benefits. The COLA adjustments along with a delayed benefit credit helps to boost initial benefits of people who delay benefits and work longer..A number of innovative alternatives to the SGR exist those outlined above are three among more than a dozen. Because the options are so varied, TSCL believes that testing and evaluating different models will be a critical step in the process. A bill recently introduced by Rep. Allyson Schwartz the Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act would do just that, and we look forward to partnering with her in the coming months to resolve the physician payment fiasco once and for all..It they can't do that they will have to pass a longer CR which would take the funding issue well into January of next year and the new Congress will have to deal with it as its first order of business..While Medicare covers emergency room care, unless your father was admitted to the hospital as an inpatient, Medicare Part A may not have covered his hospital stay. If emergency room doctors held your dad "under observation" or as an "outpatient," then his stay was covered under Medicare Part B, and there may have been expensive bills for that hospital stay depending on what other type of insurance your dad had in addition to Medicare. In addition, Medicare has strict rules about the length of stays in the hospital, in order to qualify for limited nursing home coverage for rehabilitation. Medicare does not cover most long - term stays in nursing homes..TSCL recently delivered letters to every Member of Congress calling on them to support legislation that would provide a more fair and adequate COLA. "Congress created the automatic COLA in 1972 to help benefits keep up with inflation. But according to our research, COLAs are failing to keep up with the rising costs seniors are facing. Since 2000 Social Security benefits have lost 30 percent of their buying power, and in the last year alone they have lost 7 percent.".Medicare Part D discounts in the "doughnut hole." Once both drug plan enrollees and their plan have spent the initial coverage amount, they reach the Part D coverage gap or "doughnut hole." Prior to the Affordable Care Act, seniors paid 100% of drug costs in the doughnut hole, unless they were covered by a plan that provided some gap coverage. Under provisions of the Affordable Care Act, once seniors hit the coverage gap, they get a 50% discount on covered brand name drugs and pay 86% of the plan's costs for covered generic drugs until they spend a total of ,700 for the year. Some plans offer additional coverage for generics during the gap..Senator McConnell's comments came a day after the U.S. Treasury Department released an analysis that revealed the corporate tax cuts under the new tax law had a significant impact on the deficit in 201Supporters of the 2017 tax legislation sold the bill saying that the tax cuts would spur economic growth so much that it would pay for itself. But the Treasury Department recently reported that the U.S. budget deficit grew to 9 billion in Trump's first full fiscal year as president, as a result of the tax cuts, spending increases, and rising interest payments for the national debt..TSCL understands that some changes to Medicare may be necessary to secure the long-term future of the program. However, we strongly believe that any changes should be phased in gradually and should not affect those nearing retirement. In addition, TSCL believes that the government must increase its efforts to combat Medicare fraud a growing issue that costs between billion and billion each year.