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This week, a bipartisan group of Senators sent a letter to the White House urging executive action on prescription drug prices. In addition, two key bills gained support in the House..The 2018 findings represent a substantial 4 percent loss in Social Security benefit buying power from January 2017 through January 201The loss deepened from 30 percent in 2017 to 34 percent in 201Of the thirty-nine costs analyzed in the study, twenty-six exceeded the percentage increase in the COLA over the 2000 to 2018 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..Despite receiving the largest Social Security cost of living adjustment in five years, the majority of retired and disabled beneficiaries will not see any increase in their net Social Security benefits in January, warns The Senior Citizens League. A big jump in Medicare Part B premiums is to blame. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently announced that the Medicare Part B premium will be 4 for next year. That's the same amount that the Part B premium is today, but tens of millions of Medicare beneficiaries are paying less than that this year. Millions of beneficiaries pay roughly less - and their annual COLA may not be enough to cover the difference..Open Enrollment on the new health exchanges starts November 15 and will run for about one month. But even after a year of technical problems and significant repair efforts, the Government Accountability Office recently warned Congress that the federal exchange may continue to have more enrollment problems. Nevertheless, due to the high cost of insurance and potential tax repercussions, TSCL recommends that you start early and be persistent about finding your best plan..To make matters worse for them, the Democrats are divided on how to proceed with those bills and unless they can come to an agreement those measures will go nowhere..Social Security's combined Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds will be fully funded until 2035 one year later than was projected in last year's report. At that point, if nothing is done by Congress, Social Security would still have the funds to pay out 80 percent of scheduled benefits using tax revenues alone. The Trustees also estimated that Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will be fully funded until 2026, at which point the program would still be able to pay out almost 90 percent of scheduled benefits using tax revenues..As we all know, senior citizens are the most likely to be hospitalized or die from the Covid-19 virus -- by a wide margin..Before making such a major decision, we strongly recommend that you get free, one-on-one counseling from your State Health Insurance Program Medicare Counselor. Your counselor can help you compare plans to ensure that the choice you're considering is right for you. Many local area agencies on aging or senior centers host counseling programs.