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Conferees Hit Budget Impasse.What can I do?.The 5 or so million Americans aged 50 to 64 who currently buy insurance on the individual and small business exchanges could compare a Medicare-X plan to those offered by private insurance plansm and choose which works best for them. Guaranteeing Medicare-X in every ZIP code would ensure there's always an option for Americans not yet on Medicare. And, because participants' premiums would cover the full cost of the plan, it wouldn't raise taxes, add to the deficit, or take resources from the Medicare trust fund. Medicare-X would allow price negotiation under Part D, but would not touch the benefits offered through traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage..Recently a friend of mine in her late 70's wondered, "How would I know it's time for assisted living if I live alone?" She has no close family of her own for caregiving. What do you recommend for people like this?.Finally, because it started in China and it is a new strain of flu, health care officials in the U.S. are still learning about it and uncertainty exists..It also seems to be a more severe flu strain than the seasonal flu which means more people require greater medical care. For most people this flu is survivable but without the extra medical care that someone might normally need they may succumb to it..Illegal immigrants get jobs using counterfeit, invalid, and stolen Social Security numbers that employers use to withhold payroll taxes and report earnings to the Social Security Administration. Immigration advocates argue that unauthorized workers have little chance of collecting benefits. But once illegal workers gain a valid Social Security that changes. Social Security Administration policy allows noncitizens who have evidence of earnings, even for jobs worked under invalid Social Security numbers, to claim and reinstate those earnings for use in determining entitlement once they obtain their own Social Security number. The earnings are then used to determine the initial retirement benefit amount..This week, TSCL's legislative consultants, Former Congressman David Funderburk and Mrs. Betty Funderburk, along with TSCL's legislative analyst, Jessie Gibbons, held meetings on Capitol Hill with Members of Congress and their top staff..Upon introducing the bill back in 2015, Congressman John Larson said: "Social Security remains the nation's bedrock retirement program and provides vital protection … Many Americans, however, do not believe it will be there for them when they retire. I am proud to announce a common sense path forward today that not only strengthens benefits now, but ensures Social Security will be here through the next century."