The flowers in the vase don't have enough water..A lot is at stake. Members of Congress and President Obama have been considering cuts to Social Security cost-of-living adjustments to lower government spending cuts that still remain on the bargaining table. In addition, the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund will be fully exhausted in just three years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. An immigration amnesty would give new access to Social Security for an estimated 11.5 illegal immigrants currently in the U.S., who would become eligible for benefits that potentially include credit for earnings under fraudulent Social Security numbers..That is the bad news..The adjuvanted flu vaccine is made with MF59 adjuvant, an additive that can create a stronger immune response to vaccination. In a recent review of multiple vaccine trials, older adults who received a MF59-adjuvated vaccine had a significantly higher immune response than those who received a standard flu vaccine, The adjuvanted vaccine was available for the first time in the United States during the 2016-2017 flu season. Learn more about adjuvanted flu vaccine here..Said TSCL Chairman Ralph McCutchen, "We've gotten much accomplished this trip and received plenty of good news as far as getting more support for our concerns. We were able to show the Members of Congress we met with that living proof of the Notch does exist and reform is needed sooner rather than later.".This week, lawmakers in the House remained in their home districts, while those in the Senate returned to Capitol Hill to begin working on a plan to avoid a government shutdown. In addition, The Senior Citizens League saw three key bills gain support..Figure in inflation: When calculating a long-term budget, consider that Medicare Part B premiums grew by almost 9% per year over the past 15 years. Medicare Advantage premiums have grown somewhat more slowly, but on-going program changes make it important to compare your health plan with other options during the Medicare's Open Enrollment period..Regardless of when you decide to start benefits, you should enroll in Medicare when you turn age 6Failure to enroll by your Medicare deadline may result in permanent enrollment penalties that you would add to the cost of your Medicare Part B premiums for the rest of the time you have Medicare..Calculating the COLA in this manner would remove more of the uncertainty in years of economic recession and high unemployment and it would reflect inflation two ways - the growth in average wages which determine the average benefit, as well as the growth in prices. The national average Social Security benefit tends to rise most years, because new people coming onto the rolls tend to have higher wages than people who retired ahead of them. Indexing using this method would still tend to ensure a small boost to benefits even in years when inflation is so low that no COLA is payable.
