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A growing number of Social Security recipients are affected by the tax, because the income thresholds are fixed, rather than adjusted annually, like income brackets. Because of this, the number of Social Security recipients who are hit by the tax has increased substantially over the years as incomes increased..Figure in inflation: When calculating a long-term budget, consider that Medicare Part B premiums grew by almost 9% per year over the past 15 years. Medicare Advantage premiums have grown somewhat more slowly, but on-going program changes make it important to compare your health plan with other options during the Medicare's Open Enrollment period..The 2021 Part B increase comes at the same time beneficiaries are receiving one of the lowest COLAs ever paid. The annual inflation adjustment will increase the average Social Security benefit by only .00 per month. Because Medicare Part B premiums and out-of-pocket costs grow several times faster than the annual COLA, healthcare costs take a rapidly growing share of Social Security benefits in retirement. The situation can leave older households without adequate income and dwindling savings just a few years after retiring..back to your doctor to see whether there is a less costly prescription that you.In addition, three new cosponsors Reps. Beto O'Rourke, Ralph Hall, and Brad Sherman signed on to the Social Security Fairness Act this week, bringing the total up to ninety-eight. If signed into law, the bill would repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision two provisions that unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of state and local government employees each year..This week, Members of the Senate voted to confirm Sylvia Mathews Burwell as the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, The Senior Citizens League saw two key bills gain support..Making matters worse, many who are impacted by the WEP and GPO are unaware of their existence until they file for benefits and retire. Chairman Johnson said on Tuesday, "The Social Security statement that is required by law shows them … the amount of Social Security benefits they would receive if the WEP and GPO didn't exist. These workers, just like every other American, have a right to know what their Social Security benefits will be so they can best prepare for their retirements.".Remember "Flo"? In 1999 she was the blond, perky, mature lady who came onto our TV screens telling us that she was here "to tell seniors about changes that affect our medicines." She would end by saying "I don't want big government in my medicine cabinet." Flo implied that, if Medicare provided a drug benefit for seniors, it would stifle research and development of new life-saving drugs coming to market and restrict access to drugs a patient was already taking..But according to a report in Politco last week, "… the administration's Medicare team has put together a revised plan - which was circulated inside the administration on Tuesday, with instructions to expedite approval - to start sending letters to 39 million beneficiaries within the next week, touting the drug-discount cards. The cards would then arrive across December and January, according to four officials with knowledge of the plan."