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Another major hurdle was about how to classify .5 billion in veterans' health spending through the VA Mission Act - legislation that Trump himself has championed. The chairmen/women of the Congressional committees that deal with government funding originally agreed to classify that money as "emergency spending" because then it would not violate the overall spending limits Congress has previously agreed to..The CBO estimated that, the American Health Care Act, introduced in March, would cut federal spending on Medicaid by nearly 0 billion over the 2017 2026 period. The CBO estimated that, by 2026, Medicaid spending would be about 25 percent less than projected under current law, yet Medicaid spending growth would exceed the rate of growth of the inflation adjustment. "With costs growing faster than reimbursements, states would have to come up with the money in some other way or be forced to cut services, restrict eligibility for enrollment or otherwise ration care," says Johnson.".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..Through 2012, annual COLA increases have been tied to the increase in the consumer price index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. Deficit reduction plans would switch to a more slowly-growing CPI known as the "chained" CPI to determine COLAs. Traditional CPIs measure the increase in prices. But the chained CPI doesn't. It measures consumer spending when prices go up. For example if the price of beef goes up, it assumes people switch to less costly choices, like chicken. The chained CPI measures inflation as growing less slowly than traditional indexes..About 28% of all Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plans. United Health Care, the largest Medicare Advantage insurer in the nation, recently dramatically cut the number of doctors in its plans this year. TSCL remains highly concerned that more plans will follow suit next year as successive cuts kick in..Use the Health and Drug Plan Finder found at..Social Security Benefits Slowed Amid COVID-19 Deaths.On Thursday, the Supreme Court announced its 4-4 decision on a challenge to President Obama's immigration orders, which were released back in 2014 with the intent of halting the deportations of nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants. The split decision means the lower court's ruling is left in place, and the executive orders will not take effect..The Obama Administration along with many private corporations like Hewlett-Packard and Walgreens announced several other new projects that will aim to improve the lives of seniors at Monday's conference. For more information, check out the White House's Fact Sheet that summarizes each one.