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This is not a sustainable spending pattern for retired and disabled households. In recent years, Social Security recipients more typically reported that housing and medical expenses, not food, increased the fastest and were the two top cost concerns..This week, TSCL endorsed the Social Security Fraud Prevention Act, sponsored by Congressman David Valadao. If signed into law, the bill would prevent instances of identity theft by removing or partially redacting Social Security numbers from government-issued documents..Update No. 2 on Discount Drug Card.The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently announced that the standard Medicare Part B premium will be 8.50 in 2021, an increase of .90 per month from 4.60 in 2020. That increase, which I earlier feared would be considerably more, was restricted by legislation enacted last fall. But even with legislation to keep the Medicare Part B flat, the Part B premium still went up 2.6% over 2020, twice as much as the annual cost-of-living adjustment. This trend of Medicare costs increasing several times faster than Social Security benefits creates chronic headaches for retirees, as the Medicare Part B premium consumes a growing share of Social Security benefits..Following the reception, the Board of Trustees and TSCL's legislative team spent the afternoon meeting with six Members of Congress and their top aides. Support was expressed for a number of key bills, including the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers Act, the Notch Fairness Act, and the Social Security Fairness Act, among others..The Biden administration is treating the first weeks of the program as a dry run to test if the federal pharmacy program will work before scaling it up, according to one source familiar with planning discussions..On Thursday, after thirty hours of debate, the Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Sylvia Mathews Burwell as the next HHS Secretary. Burwell has served as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget for the past year, and she will now replace Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who announced her resignation in April. In her new position, Burwell will manage the Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs, and she will also oversee the continued implementation of the Affordable Care Act, among other things..The standard monthly Medicare Part B premium, which covers doctors and outpatient services, will increase by .10 from 5.50 in 2019, to 4.60 in 2020. At the same time, the COLA will increase an average Social Security benefit of ,460 by only .40. After deduction for the Part B premium, that would leave just .30 per month for someone with average benefits to cover all other rising costs, including other rising Medicare premiums for prescription drugs or supplemental coverage..The coronavirus outbreak has complicated the ability for many Americans to access care, regardless of their insurer. However, many older patients now have an opportunity to connect with their doctors virtually after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services broadened access to telemedicine services under Medicare.