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Senators Urge Action on Drug Prices.It makes no difference if a Member of Congress has broken the law. This newsletter recently reported that former Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who was sentenced to eight years in jail for bribery charges, is entitled to an annual pension of about ,000. Currently, it takes an act of treason for a Member of the House or Senate to lose a pension..If he should choose to veto the bill all bets are off as to what would happen next..People age 65 and older who have not started Social Security benefits, and who pay by check. Most of this group includes people who are still working or those who may recently have lost jobs but not yet started Social Security benefits..Would a Higher Cost-of-Living-Adjustment in Social Security Make Me Ineligible for Medicaid?.That doesn't mean that a budget agreement is completely out of the question or the much more unlikely scenario that Congress won't get paid. The No Budget No Pay Act holds Congressional paychecks in escrow, and, by law, will release the funds either when a budget agreement is reached, or on the last day of the 113th Congress, which ends on December 31, 2014..This week, TSCL saw support grow for three bills in the House and one bill in the Senate. First, two new cosponsors signed on to the bipartisan CREATES Act of 2017, bringing the total up to nine. The new cosponsors are Representative Carol Shea-Porter and Representative Francis Rooney. If signed into law, the bill would increase competition in the prescription drug industry by encouraging generic and biosimilar drug manufacturers to introduce their products to the market more quickly..Customers are asked to provide their Social Security numbers or other personal identifying information in exchange for a bank routing number that will allegedly pay their utility bills. In reality, there is no money, and customers believe they have paid their bills when in fact they have not..An estimated 39 million Medicare beneficiaries spend up to 29 percent of their Social Security benefits on healthcare costs, according to a new survey by The Senior Citizens League. "That's a huge chunk of one's household budget, and chances are that many of those people are paying too much for premiums, deductibles, and out of pocket costs," says Mary Johnson a Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. "One of the best financial moves that Medicare beneficiaries can make is to review health and drug plan coverage and compare options during Medicare's Fall Open Enrollment Period, which starts October 15 and runs through December 7, 2021," Johnson says. "For many people, it could potentially save hundreds of dollars, making the difference between having to split pills or going without, versus to covering all prescriptions and still winding up with a little cash left over," says Johnson, who helps her friends and family with the task.