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This year, for the sixth straight year, the Trustees issued a "Medicare funding warning." Marilyn Tavenner, CMS Administrator, stated: "While Medicare is stable for now, we have a lot of work ahead of us to guarantee its future." Expenditures by the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund have exceeded income since 2008 and are expected to do so for the foreseeable future. The Trust Fund is expected to cover only 87 percent of costs in 2024 and 67 percent of projected costs in 2050..The Committee has held two additional hearings on prescription drug prices. In July, the Committee heard directly from patients who are unable to afford their prescription drugs. Two of the witnesses at that hearing were Medicare beneficiaries who were prescribed a cancer drug priced at more than ,000 per month..Members of the committee heard from several witnesses at Wednesday's hearing, including Stephen and Rita Shiman, two older Americans from Saco, Maine who were recently victims of the common grandparent scam against seniors. The couple was contacted via phone by a scammer who claimed to be their grandson. The caller told Mr. and Mrs. Shiman he was being held unfairly in a county jail and needed ,230 to be released on bail. They completed the transaction without a second thought and learned they had been scammed later that day, when they called to check in on their actual grandson..How Do I Know When It's Time For Assisted Living If I Live Alone?.New IRS medical expense rules for people age 65 and over reduce the amount of medical expenses you can deduct for the 2017 tax year. In 2017, you or - you and your spouse - can deduct the amount of unreimbursed allowable medical expenses that is more than 10% of your adjusted gross income. Last year people over the age of 65 were allowed to deduct medical expenses that were over 7.5% of the AGI..We encourage you to attend a town hall, and invite others you know. The future of our retirement and our healthcare benefits rests in our hands..According to STATnews, "Amid intensifying anger over the rising cost of medicines, a key piece of data has been missing from the debate - the actual prices after accounting for rebates and discounts offered by drug makers to payers. Now, a new analysis has come up with some numbers and the results are illuminating: Over a recent 11-year period, net prices for hundreds of drugs rose 60%, which was 3.5 times the inflation rate..On Monday, President Obama's November immigration orders which TSCL's members and supporters overwhelmingly oppose according to recent poll results were temporarily halted by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of Texas. Judge Hanen did not rule on the legality of the President's orders on Tuesday the lawsuit is expected to take many months to complete. Instead, he issued a 123-page temporary injunction on the grounds that President Obama's orders did not go through the proper procedures, which require public notices and comment periods. Judge Hanen wrote: "This is not the end of the inquiry; in fact, in this case, it is really the tip of the iceberg.".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.