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This week, one new cosponsor Rep. Hakeem Jeffries signed on to the Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act. The cosponsor total is now up to one hundred and forty-five. If signed into law, H.R. 1179 would amend current Medicare policy to count hospital stays under "observation status" towards the three-day requirement for skilled nursing care. Currently, those under "observation status" don't qualify for coverage of the benefit, and they are often hit with large, unexpected bills after receiving necessary medical care. TSCL believes the current policy is unfair, and we were pleased to see support grow for H.R. 1179 this week..View Cosponsors.Is Dental Insurance Worth The Money?.However, because Democratic control of Congress is so narrow, especially in the Senate but also in the House, the chances of passing anything this year remain uncertain, at best. Democrats are divided in what they want to accomplish so coming up with a majority in the House has been a struggle. Without complete Democratic unity in the Senate nothing can pass there..President Obama's executive actions on immigration would have provided temporary work authorization to more than 4 million undocumented immigrants and with that comes controversial access to Social Security and Medicare, the Congressional Budget Office has said. That access is particularly controversial among older voters, according to surveys by TSCL..If Social Security benefits don't increase, while senior costs continue to climb, that would take a big chunk out of the spending power of retirees' Social Security benefits. The majority of Medicare beneficiaries have their Part B premiums automatically deducted from their Social Security benefits, and nearly 7 million have Part D and Part C Medicare Advantage premiums automatically deducted as well. Seniors would end up with considerably less Social Security to live on in 2010 after paying the rising out-of-pocket Medicare costs, leaving less to cover other rising costs..TSCL supports the "No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act" introduced by Representative Dana Rohrabacher which would ban the use of earnings for jobs worked while illegal to be used to determine entitlement..To do this, Larson's bill would increase the payroll tax rate gradually over 24 years through annual 0.1% increases, and it would also apply payroll taxes to all earnings instead of just the first 7,700..According to Aging Committee Chairman Susan Collins, 5.7 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's disease, and it is the sixth leading cause of death. In her opening statement, Chairman Collins said: "If we continue along this trajectory, Alzheimer's is projected to claim the minds of nearly 14 million seniors and surpass trillion in costs by 2050."