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If signed into law, the CPI-E Act would amend the Social Security Act with regard to annual cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security and Medicare benefits. Currently, the COLA is based upon the spending patterns of young, urban workers, but Rep. DeFazio's bill would require that COLAs be based upon the way seniors spend their money. The COLA that seniors currently receive does not accurately reflect how they must spend their money, and TSCL estimates that a senior who retired with average benefits in 1984 would have received ,723.16 more through 2011 had the CPI-E been used. We are very supportive of Rep. DeFazio's bill, and we were pleased to see one new cosponsor sign on this week..However, the swell of seniors who qualify for Medicare has outpaced the number of doctors available to treat them. Every day, an estimated 10,000 Americans turn 65 and become eligible for the government program, the Census Bureau reported..According to Congressional Quarterly, appropriators will begin conference negotiations to reconcile their fiscal 2015 bills this summer, leaving plenty of time before the mid-term elections and the October 1st start of the fiscal year. In the meantime, TSCL will continue to keep a close eye on the Labor-HHS-Education measure, since significant funding decreases could negatively impact the Social Security and Medicare programs..When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services establish the Part B premium for 2022, they could potentially factor in the expected costs for Aduhelm. Part B premiums were already on track to be higher. The Medicare Trustees recently estimated that Part B premiums would increase to 8.50 in 2022..After 13 years with TREA he retired from the organization at the end of 2018 and became TSCL's Legislative Consultant in September of 2019..Last year the Senate was a bigger problem when dealing with passing legislation but there still may be hope this year for a bi-partisan bill authored by Senators Ron Wyden and Chuck Grassley. "The bill would cap seniors' drug costs and penalize drugmakers for raising prices too fast - a provision that many Republicans have likened to price controls. It would save the government a projected billion over a decade, far less than the 0 billion-plus under the House negotiation bill," according to Politico.."Implications Of Different Indexing Choices," Government Accountability Office, September 2006, GAO-06-804, pg. 5"GAO's Analysis of the Notch Issue," GAO, September 16, 1994, GAO/T-HEHS-94-236..Earlier this year President Biden signed an Executive Order to secure America's critical supply chains. The Executive Order directed the Administration to launch an immediate 100-day review and strategy development process to identify and address vulnerabilities in the supply chains of four key product sectors, including pharmaceuticals.Between January of 2000 and January of 2020, Social Security COLAs increased benefits by 53 percent, but the cost of goods and services purchased by typical retirees rose by almost twice as much - 99.3 percent. Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket costs, housing, and homeowner's insurance were among the most rapidly - rising costs over the past year.