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This week, TSCL saw support grow for three bills in the House and one bill in the Senate. First, two new cosponsors signed on to the bipartisan CREATES Act of 2017, bringing the total up to nine. The new cosponsors are Representative Carol Shea-Porter and Representative Francis Rooney. If signed into law, the bill would increase competition in the prescription drug industry by encouraging generic and biosimilar drug manufacturers to introduce their products to the market more quickly..Instead of the sweeping legislation supported by the House Democratic leadership they have indicated supported for more modest measures that already have some Republican support. Those include things like capping Medicare enrollees' out-of-pocket drug costs..I decide I better put them back on my computer desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers..The Senior Citizens League supports legislation that protects Medicare benefits and lowers out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries. To learn how to get involved, visit..The compromise extends the tax holiday, unemployment benefits, and Medicare physician payments through the remainder of 2012..Adopting a more accurate and adequate COLA that protects seniors against inflation;.The hold harmless provision protects people who have their Medicare Part B premiums automatically deducted from their Social Security payments. If the Medicare Part B premium increase is greater than the amount of the COLA increase, then the Part B premium will be frozen to prevent a reduction in Social Security payments. The provision does not apply to new enrollees in 2016, people who pay their Medicare Part B premiums by check, low-income beneficiaries who have their Medicare premiums paid for by state Medicaid programs and high income people who pay premium surcharges..Shortly after the announcement, the White House confirmed that many affected by the new actions would be eligible to receive Social Security and Medicare. "If they pay in, they can draw," said White House spokesman, Shawn Turner, according to The Washington Post..The riskiest one-third of patients were 280.6% more likely to drop cardiovascular drugs than the bottom two-thirds; there were similar results for those at high risk of diabetic and pulmonary complications.