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This is from STAT News, a company that "delivers trusted and authoritative journalism about health, medicine, and the life sciences..Medicare Savings Programs cover the cost of the Medicare Part B premium, saving a person 8.50 per month in 202Depending on income, those with the lowest income may also qualify for additional benefits that cover the Part B deductible and out-of-pocket costs. People with incomes in 2020 of up to ,456 per month or ,960 might be eligible if they have limited savings and resources of ,860 or ,800. These limits are slightly higher for Hawaii and Alaska. This program is administered through state Medicaid programs and states may have guidelines that allow people with slightly higher income to enroll. If interested,contact your local Medicaid office to apply..The chances are high that the next president of the United States will sign into law legislation that reforms the Social Security program and extends the solvency of the trust fund beyond 2034, its projected year of exhaustion. For years leaders in Washington have been authoring sweeping plans that would enact major benefit cuts like reduced cost-of-living adjustments or increased eligibility ages in order to strengthen the financing of the program. But the unpopularity of those plans with voters ensured those plans never went anywhere..TSCL is working with Members of Congress for the "Guaranteed 3% COLA for Seniors Act, introduced by Representative Eliot Engel. The bill directs the Bureau of Labor Statistics to prepare and publish a monthly CPI-E and uses it to calculate the annual Social Security COLA. And in the case when inflation is low, the bill would provide an annual COLA of at least 3%..Key witnesses such as Mr. Richard Nance, Director of the Utah County Department of Drug and Alcohol Prevention and Treatment, advocated in favor of expanding telemedicine to treat those afflicted with addiction. Other witnesses such as Dr. Andrew Kolodny of Brandeis University warned that doctors need further education on safe opioid prescribing, and that it should not be influenced in any way by parties that benefit from the sale of opioids..Tell your leadership what is important to you - Sign a Petition.Over the weekend it was announced that the Senate and the White House were able to come to an agreement about new legislation and it will be presented today. However, reports are that the GOP bill will cost about trillion while the House-passed bill has a cost of trillion. That means there will have to be major negotiations between the House and Senate once the Senate finally passes its bill..Medicare Part A pays for hospital in-patient care, as well as short term stays in skilled nursing facilities, home health and hospice services, in addition to covering a portion of payments paid to private insurers for the care of Medicare Advantage enrollees. It's funded through payroll taxes of 2.9% on earnings, with workers and employers each paying 1.45%. Workers pay Medicare taxes on all earnings. There is no wage limit subject to Medicare taxes as there is for Social Security..Education and arts programs