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The House of Representatives, on the other hand, has passed 10 of the 12 funding bills that are needed, with only the Homeland Security and Legislative branch funding bills left. Because there is so little time left before the start of the new fiscal year there is the real possibility there could be a government shutdown right before the November election..a modest boost in benefits,.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 proposal would potentially help those enrolled in Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plans, particularly in cases where a drug is not covered by the individual's plan or, as a less-expensive alternative, when the cost of importing a drug is lower than the co-pay for purchasing the medication with Part D plan coverage. Proponents of importation point out that, over the long-term, increased competition from imported drugs could pressure drug companies to reduce their prices in the U.S. and thus help reduce costs for other drugs you may take.."This is a budget cut that makes no sense," says TSCL Executive Director Shannon Benton. "Meals on Wheels is a low-cost program that reduces our nation's healthcare bill and more importantly helps seniors stay in their home and remain independent," she says..TSCL agrees with Congressman Garamendi, and we hope to see his CPI-E Act signed into law before the end of the 115th Congress. For more information on H.R. 1251, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. To read The Senior Citizens League's Loss of Buying Power study, click HERE..COLA Fairness - TSCL strongly believes that the Social Security cost-of-living-adjustment that seniors are currently receiving does not accurately reflect how they must spend their money. Our studies and surveys indicate that the current COLA is growing too slowly and does not accurately measure inflation experienced by seniors. The COLA is based on a consumer price index that reflects how young urban workers tend to spend their money. Older Americans spend a disproportionate share of their household budget on health care. Since health care costs continue to rise so quickly and since most health care spending cannot be substituted out for something cheaper TSCL believes that seniors would be better served if their COLA was based upon a consumer price index for elderly consumers, the CPI-E. Current COLA efforts.The Senior Citizens League believes that the on-going Medicare cuts have weakened our ability to respond to national emergencies like COVID-1It has exacerbated a national healthcare worker shortage - including doctors and nurses, as well as the capacity of the nation's hospitals to deal with the sudden large influx of patients generated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many hospitals, doctors' offices, and nursing homes have required additional federal and state assistance as well as donations from the public, to acquire personal protective equipment such as masks, gowns, and gloves.."The new aspect of this study of memory loss in the elderly is that it examines silent strokes and hippocampal shrinkage simultaneously," said study author Adam M. Brickman, PhD, of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.