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"Low COLAs also take a huge toll on overall growth of Social Security income over a retirement," Cates says. "COLAs are like interest, and when COLAs are so low, benefits remain flat. Because benefits are lower now, the amount of increase, if more normal patterns of inflation resume later, will be based on lower benefit amounts, reining in future growth that retirees may have factored into their retirement plans," Cates explains..This week, appropriators in the House and Senate continued their work on the .1 trillion omnibus to fund the federal government through the remainder of the fiscal year. Lawmakers have just one week to finalize the deal in order to avoid a government shutdown like the one that occurred in 2013.."Medicaid plays an essential role for both low - income older Americans and middle -income seniors made poor by their health care costs," Johnson notes. Medicaid benefits can include paying premiums and out - of - pocket costs for Part B coverage. It is also the primary payer of costs not covered by Medicare, including nursing home care..In recent years a growing number of Medicare beneficiaries are entering hospitals for observation care rather than as inpatients. The number rose 69% in five years according to the most recent national statistics, but over the same period Medicare hospital admissions have declined..McCaskill compared such pharmaceutical industry's activities to those of Congressional lobbyists, and argued that doctors, like politicians, must be required to publicly disclose any gift they receive..Even small tweaks in inflation can save the government hundreds of billions over time. Using the chained CPI would reduce the measured rate of inflation, and the amount of money you would receive in your COLA every year. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that moving to the chained CPI would cut government spending on Social Security by 2 billion over the first 10 years alone..The U.S. aims to diversify its drug supply chain, relying on a geographically diverse set of manufacturers.Help! I've Been Told I Have To Return My Deceased Husband's Last Social Security Check. Is This Really True?.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.