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President Obama signed it into law shortly thereafter, saying it will improve the Medicare program "because it starts encouraging payments based on quality, not the number of tests that are provided or the number of procedures that are applied, but whether or not people actually start feeling better." The law took effect immediately, and upon the bill's signing, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that it had already begun reimbursing physicians at the full payment rate..So far activists, including TSCL's members and supporters, have managed to keep Capitol Hill lawmakers wary of making major changes. But the issue isn't going away any time soon. The nation will once again reach the federal debt limit by the end of next year, and at the same time, lawmakers will be confronted with the looming insolvency of the Social Security Disability program. Deficit reduction battles are likely to dominate the Congressional agenda once again, and cutting COLAs remains the target of major deficit reduction plans..TSCL opposes these new provisions because we feel strongly that seniors should not be required to cover the cost of the poor policy-making decisions that were made by Congress nearly twenty years ago, when lawmakers first created the SGR. According to the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicare beneficiaries will automatically contribute billion in Part B premiums over the next decade to repeal and replace the SGR. TSCL believes any additional cost-sharing including the two new provisions will be unduly harsh..To learn how much COLA cuts would cost you, try TSCL's Chained COLA calculator..As a result, the highest-risk patients were not filling their medication after prices jumped. Those most vulnerable to a heart attack and stroke cut back more on statins and anti-hypertensives than lower-risk patients - irrespective of socioeconomic status..The 1977 benefit formula changes affected workers who turned 62 and became eligible for benefits just two years later, in 1979 and thereafter. To protect people close to retirement from abrupt benefit cuts, and to phase in the benefit reductions, a 5-year transitional formula was provided affecting people born from 1917 through 192That group had their benefits figured two different ways using both the transitional benefit formula, and the new benefit formula. People received the higher of the two benefits..According to the Congressional Research Service, for an age 65 retiree with average wages, a maximum benefit disparity of 10% would have arisen between the highest benefit under the old rules and the lowest benefit under the new rules if the 1977 assumptions had materialized. Under the economic conditions that actually arose, the disparity was 25%-two and one half times greater..The study's findings illustrate the impact on the buying power of Social Security benefits when the economy goes from a period of extremely low inflation to more typical rates of inflation. The last time there was a loss this big was in 2011, another year similar to 2017, when there was no COLA, but inflation spiked. The following year, in 2012, Social Security benefits increased by 3.6%. And like 2012, a higher COLA is likely in 2018..Burwell was expected to cruise through the confirmation process after she received an overwhelming display of bipartisan support during two Senate hearings that were held in May. However, a group of lawmakers set out to stall her confirmation's movement in the weeks leading up to the vote by submitting several complex inquiries about her perception of the ACA. In addition, almost every minute of the allotted debate time was used to discuss the ACA's implementation thus far, while Burwell received almost no criticism at all during the thirty hours.