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When a pharmaceutical industry leader attempted to avoid questions about the pharmaceutical company representative buying alcohol for doctors, McCaskill pressed them for a yes-or-no answer. Ultimately, she admitted there were no rules to prohibit this from taking place, and defended the industry as simply trying to communicate information about prescription medications..President Trump pledged that he would protect Social Security and Medicare when he ran for president in 201He has repeated that pledge several times since. But to advocate for a payroll tax cut that would bring both programs much closer to insolvency is not in keeping with his pledge..In general, distributions from a traditional IRA are taxable in the year you receive them, although there are some exceptions. Thus you would need to figure the full amount of your distribution in figuring your provisional income..For every 0 a retired household spent in 2000, that household can only buy about worth of the same goods and services today. For example, in 2000, the average annual cost of homeowners' insurance was 8 per year. In 2020 however, the average cost is ,518.97, an increase of 174 percent over the period. In 2000, the average Social Security benefit was 6 per month. A retiree with 6 could pay their entire annual homeowners insurance bill and still have money left over. By 2020, however, COLAs increased the 6.00 benefit to just ,246.20. Households with a benefit of ,246.20 must make insurance payments over several months, dig deeper into savings, or borrow to cover the cost of their policy..The Democratic Platform Committee approved a plan that would expand the Social Security program "so that every American can retire with dignity and respect." Their document states, "We will fight every effort to cut, privatize, or weaken Social Security, including attempts to raise the retirement age, diminish benefits by cutting cost-of-living adjustments, or reducing earned benefits.".TSCL is supportive of the President's efforts, but we are taking a wait-and-see approach because, as so many things are in Washington, D.C., the devil is in the details..However, TSCL does oppose two provisions that lawmakers included in the package to offset the cost of the 0 billion bill: one provision would increase Medicare Part B and Part D premiums for wealthier seniors, and the second one would create a new 0 deductible for supplemental Medigap plans. Both provisions will require seniors to pay more for their health care, and TSCL feels strongly that seniors should not be required to cover the cost of the poor policy-making decisions that were made by Congress nearly twenty years ago..Now, as we draw close to the end of the year, the window for Congress to take major action to lower prescription drug prices is beginning to close. Concern is growing that the prospects of a substantial drug price reduction bill may get lost in the politics surrounding the 2020 election. Legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs is in the House, and a bipartisan bill that would cap out-of-pocket Part D costs at ,100 a year is stalled in the Senate. The whole effort is fiercely being fought by the pharmaceutical industry, and the outcome remains unclear..Costs not covered by Medicare such as dental, vision and audio care.