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In 2017 the COLA was just 0.3%, but the Medicare Part B premium rose to 4.00 for people like new enrollees and others who haven't started Social Security yet and pay for their Medicare by check. Once again, the Part B premium of Barbara and the vast majority of Social Security recipients was protected from reductions. Barbara's monthly Medicare premium was adjusted to 108.00, taking every penny of her tiny COLA boost..The COLA as currently calculated is failing to protect the buying power of the beneficiaries for whom it is intended. TSCL supports legislation, the 3% COLA Act, that would ensure a more fair and adequate COLA two ways. It would base the annual boost on an index that more accurately reflects of the costs of older Americans - the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly. In addition, the legislation would require an annual minimum COLA of no less than 3%..Some 13% of the people who receive both Medicare and Medicaid are 85 and older. The youngest Notch Babies turned 85 last year, while the oldest turned 9With over four million Notch Babies and their widows, TSCL believes that roughly one-quarter of Notch Babies receive both Medicaid, as well as Medicare..If the Social Security Guarantee Act is signed into law, all eligible recipients will receive benefit guarantee certificates from the Secretary of the Treasury that would require the payment of full benefits. Additionally, the bill will adopt a measure of inflation that would make annual COLAs more fair and accurate, allowing older Americans to better keep up with rising costs..About 44 percent of TSCL Senior Survey respondents last year said that their Social Security benefit was lower in 2011 after deduction for Medicare premium payments. Another TSCL survey found that 44 percent of respondents also said they spent at least 0 a month on Medicare premiums and other out-of-pocket costs in 201"With the average benefit at ,100, about 17 million seniors are spending one-third of their Social Security benefit on Medicare costs, " Hyland observes..The Senior Citizens League is pleased that Congress has successfully negotiated a repeal of the SGR, since the flawed formula has not worked as intended for twelve years. It has called for physician pay cuts some as steep as 30 percent more than seventeen times, threatening access to quality medical care for beneficiaries. We are hopeful that the new payment system will bring increased stability to the Medicare program..In 1988, a report by the former U. S. General Accounting Office, now the Government Accountability Office, cited an example of two sisters who started working at the same book bindery, on the same day, in October 195Audrey was born in March 1916, and Edith in June of 191The two had almost identical lifetime earnings. The younger sister Edith received a monthly benefit of 2.60, 1.80 less than her older sister Audrey, who received 4.40 per month..That said until you crunch the numbers it's hard to say whether itemizing your medical expenses or taking the standard deduction would be the better option..Government Shutdown Continues for Fifth Week