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Get the spiel. Keep pen and paper close to your phone and the next time you get the call, write down the offer. Without giving away any of your own information stay on the line to talk to an agent. What is the item or service and what are the terms?.With the end of the 2021 fiscal year on Sept. 30 fast approaching, they face a massive workload if they hope to finish by then. Technically, they are supposed to pass legislation funding the federal government for fy202No one expects that will happen but they still must pass a "continuing resolution" which will keep the government going for an additional period, giving them time to pass the new budget. If they don't do that the government will shut down..I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to tackle these challenges. As we do, we must remember our sacred commitments to preserve Social Security and Medicare to the seniors who served and built our country..2020 Social Security Trustees Report, April 22, 2020. "COVID-19 May Deplete Social Security Trust Funds This Decade," Nicko Gladstone, Shai Akabas, Bipartisan Policy Center, April 22, 2020..More Means Testing For Medicare: Higher income seniors with incomes of more than ,000 already pay more for their Medicare Part B and Part D premiums. More seniors will pay the higher costs in the future because the income threshold is not adjusted for inflation. President Obama has proposed raising the amounts that higher-income seniors would pay, and proposes new income thresholds that would push seniors into higher premium brackets more quickly..Our nation faces an urgent crisis: as middle-class families increasingly are squeezed by stagnant wages and rising costs, the dream of a secure retirement is slipping away..Congress should enact legislation that would prohibit the use of work credits based on unauthorized earnings from being used to determine entitlement for Social Security benefits..Medical: Medicare recently reported the lowest growth in healthcare costs on record based on spending through 20But that's not the case for seniors. In fact, since 2000, Medicare Part B costs rose as fast as the cost of gasoline. Seniors will receive notification this month of their Medicare Part B premium for 201It's also important to check your Part D drug coverage. Medicare Part D's infamous drug coverage gap, aka the "doughnut hole," is slowly closing a widely touted benefit of the 2010 healthcare law. Several Part D costs, like the "standard" deductible, and the out-of-pocket costs thresholds, will be lower in 201But for the first time since Part D started, the initial coverage amount, the amount all seniors use when they fill a prescription, will be less generous by 0. That means you may hit the doughnut hole coverage gap sooner..Fall Congressional Recess Continues