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The Congressional Budget Office estimates the House GOP's American Health Care Act that passed in the House cuts federal spending on Medicaid by 4 billion over ten years, a funding cut of 25%. The Senate's health care bill would cut Medicaid even more deeply, by using a more slowly-growing inflation index to adjust reimbursements to states..Are Cuts The Only Way to Reduce the Deficit?.The budget blueprint now moves to the Senate, where leaders are expected to take it up as early as Monday. It will likely pass along party lines in that chamber too, with no anticipated support from Senate Democrats..The prospective vaccines range widely in their design and novelty. They also vary in their ease of manufacture, the number of doses a patient needs to gain lasting immunity, and the way they are administered. There will have to be multiple types of vaccines. The director of the Center for Drug Discovery at Washington University in St. Louis, said that while there are pitfalls inherent in the rush to find a vaccine, a previous pandemic offers comforting reassurance that in fielding the right drug, patience is an essential virtue..Representative Dan Lipinski introduced H.R. 2787 on May 16, 201It has since been referred to the Committee on Education and Labor..The COLA is calculated using data from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. Of the CPI groups that the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures, the CPI-W covers only 28% of the total U.S. population, and specifically excludes households "with no one in the labor force, such as retirees.".Experts estimate that fraud, waste, and abuse within Medicare cost more than billion each year. What efforts do you support to ramp up prevention?.TSCL joins voices with Chairman Sam Johnson in urging President Trump to nominate a Social Security Commissioner immediately. To stay updated on the nomination and confirmation process in the months ahead, visit the Legislative News section of our website every Friday morning..Recently we received the following example:

Medicaid Issue Brief Supplemental Security Income For People With Disabilities Implications For Medicaid

President Obama set off a firestorm of controversy announcing an ambitious set of "executive actions" to protect illegal immigrants from deportation. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office recently released a report confirming that many of those affected by the policy changes would be eligible for Social Security, Medicare and a wide array of federal benefits. Here are answers to frequently asked questions about executive action on immigration and how it affects Social Security and Medicare:.News on the Coronavirus Vaccine Front.I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to tackle these challenges. As we do, we must remember our sacred commitments to preserve Social Security and Medicare to the seniors who served and built our country. … Continued

Blog Fiscal Policy 8

On Wednesday, the Board of Trustees hosted a successful breakfast reception for all Members of the 113th Congress and their staff, along with Shannon Benton, former Congressman David Funderburk and Mrs. Betty Funderburk, and TSCL's staff. More than 125 Members of Congress and/or staff were in attendance, and we were pleased to have the chance to speak with them about the issues that matter most to TSCL's members and supporters. We especially want to thank Rep. Nick Rahall, who has been a regular attendee at TSCL's receptions..If adopted, it would provide beneficiaries with a 2 percent benefit boost, base cost-of-living adjustments on the more accurate Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, create a new minimum benefit set at 125 percent of the poverty line, and eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits for millions of seniors. It would also extend the solvency of the program through the year 2100 without cutting benefits for current or future retirees. TSCL was pleased to see support grow for H.R. 1902 this week, and we hope to see it signed into law before the end of this year..As of June 30th, the fate of the Senate's repeal and replace healthcare bill remains uncertain. The legislative in the Senate has avoided full bipartisan committee consideration and open hearings. We urge you to contact your Members of Congress and tell them NO to Medicaid cuts. … Continued