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TSCL Endorses New House Bill.The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is expected to appear on the House floor for a vote by November 16th the day before lawmakers adjourn for an eleven-day holiday recess. In the meantime, Republicans in the Senate are working on their own version that would likely keep the medical expense deduction intact. At the time of writing this week's update, the text of the bill had not yet been released, but a conceptual draft from the Senate Finance Committee is expected before Friday, November 10th..Uncertain: 17%.Expanded coverage of preventive services. The healthcare law expanded coverage of screenings for colon, prostate, breast cancer and other preventive services, which are now free if you follow Medicare's recommended frequency for getting the tests. Medicare will also pay for an annual wellness visit to the doctor..During that period COLAs have averaged just 1.4%. In 2010, 2011, and 2016 there was no COLA payable at all and, in 2017, the COLA was just 0.03 percent. "But COLAs have never remained so low, for such an extended period of time, in the history of Social Security," says Johnson, who has studied the COLA for more than 25 years. Over the 20 - year period covering 1990 to 2009, COLAs routinely averaged 3 percent annually, and were even higher before that period..Sudden price spikes in older drugs are putting patients at risk of going without vital medicine. A new report by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging uncovered an insidious business model that's leading to monopoly pricing power and astronomical price increases..The loss of buying power is an early indicator of whether the Social Security COLA will climb in the following year. Based on consumer price index data through May of this year, we estimate that the COLA for 2019 will be about 3.3%, the highest since 201However, that number could change, since there are still several months of price data to be released before the Social Security Administration announces the COLA in October..Second, one new cosponsor Representative Sean Patrick Maloney signed on to the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act, bringing the total up to twenty. This bill, if adopted, would reduce prescription drug prices for older Americans by requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower covered Medicare Part D drug prices on behalf of beneficiaries..If signed into law, the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers Act would amend the Social Security Act with regard to the annual cost-of-living-adjustment Social Security beneficiaries receive. Currently, the COLA is based upon the spending patterns of young, urban workers as calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics the CPI for Urban Wage Earners. This legislation would calculate the COLA based on the spending patterns of seniors, or by using the BLS tracked CPI-E.