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In addition, the Social Security Fairness Act gained one new cosponsor in Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, bringing the cosponsor total up to 16If signed into law, H.R. 1205 would repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision two Social Security provisions that unfairly reduce the earned benefits of millions of public servants each year..Leadership Elections Kick Off "Lame Duck" Session.New legislation to help the economy and give relief to the American people is urgently needed because at the end of this week the 0/month that unemployed workers were receiving will expire. In addition, there has been an order in place stopping any evictions of people from their homes if they fell behind in the mortgage payments or rent. That also expires at the end of this week..In December of 2020, about 1.9 million people, or about 3% of all Social Security beneficiaries, were affected by WEP. This provision applies to workers who are entitled to both Social Security benefits as well as to pension benefits from employment not covered by Social Security. School teachers and firemen are two good examples. Before 1983, those whose primary employment wasn't covered by Social Security could still receive the full amount of any Social Security benefits they may have earned, assuming they had worked long enough to qualify. Today though, people affected by the WEP must have their benefits calculated using a different benefit formula. The WEP can reduce Social Security benefits by up to half the amount of the individual's pension from non-covered work..Medicare Part B premiums jumped .10 per month in 2020 - one of the biggest increases in recent years. While the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment increased benefits by 1.6 percent in 2020, Medicare Part B premiums climbed 6.7 percent, more..The rapid growth in Medicare Part B costs is consuming an increasing share of beneficiaries' income. What proposals do you support to slow the growth in the out-of-pocket costs?.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..The "Gang of Eight's" proposal is now in the hands of the full Senate, and Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he will bring the bill to the floor in June. Until then, TSCL will continue to monitor the evolving negotiations, and we will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website..You are homebound. This means you are unable to leave home without considerable effort and you require help doing so.