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This week, the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification Act gained three new cosponsors in Representatives Anna Eshoo, Zoe Lofgren, and Earl Blumenauer, bringing the total up to thirteen. If signed into law, H.R. 2575 would simplify the Medicare enrollment process and increase efforts to educate those nearing eligibility about the program and the application process..These settlements are only a good deal for the drug manufacturers involved brand name and generic. They are a flat-out bad deal for patients. Pay-for-delay deals make necessary prescriptions unaffordable for many seniors and their families..Medicare spending in 2013 accounts for 16% of the federal budget. That spending is projected to almost double as a share of the nation's economy in coming years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The House, Senate, and the President's budget plans contain a number of provisions that would cut federal spending on Medicare. But how do senior voters view the proposals?.The problem is well known, but so far Congress has taken no action to address it. The Medicare Trustees have for years described in their annual report how rising Medicare costs will take an ever-growing portion of Social Security benefits. They estimate that Medicare Part B and Part D premiums, as well as cost sharing for both programs, currently equals just 24 percent of the level of the average Social Security benefit. But that estimate does not include many of the typical Medicare costs that most retirees actually have, and thus understates the scope of the problem. The findings based on your participation in TSCL's annual Senior Survey is proof of that..The U.S. is not the only country with that experience. Canada and Great Britain have had the same experience..If signed into law, H.R. 3513 would take a number of steps to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, including requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate Part D drug prices, allowing the re-importation of drugs from Canada, closing the "doughnut hole" three years earlier than current law, and prohibiting "pay-for-delay" deals between drug manufacturers..The Velcro effect of anchoring can influence far more consequential decisions, in ways we may not even realize. Consider the process of determining the "right" retirement age:.A third order seeks to lower insulin costs and the fourth order would require Medicare to purchase drugs at the same price that other countries pay..Please be aware that if the federal government shuts down on Tuesday, October 1st, your daily life should NOT be affected. Medicare will continue to operate, and your Social Security benefits will go out on time regardless of whether or not the federal government is running.