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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently announced that the standard Medicare Part B premium will be 8.50 in 2021, an increase of .90 per month from 4.60 in 2020. That increase, which I earlier feared would be considerably more, was restricted by legislation enacted last fall. But even with legislation to keep the Medicare Part B flat, the Part B premium still went up 2.6% over 2020, twice as much as the annual cost-of-living adjustment. This trend of Medicare costs increasing several times faster than Social Security benefits creates chronic headaches for retirees, as the Medicare Part B premium consumes a growing share of Social Security benefits..It's about time. At the time of its passage, the Affordable Care Act, was labeled a "Medicare" tax and sold to the public that way. Now it is needed by the Medicare Part A Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. Part A is less than five years from insolvency and faces an estimated 5 billion funding gap over the next ten years. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that this tax will raise approximately .5 billion in revenue in 2021 alone.."Federal Cost of Living Adjustment Will Affect SNAP And Other Benefits Received Through DCFS, December 21, 2020..can backfire, leaving you with bigger health problems and bills down the road..Highlights of this week in Congress include: fallout from the Super Committee's indecision; leadership changes at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and a new co-sponsor added to a key bill..Recently a friend of mine in her late 70's wondered, "How would I know it's time for assisted living if I live alone?" She has no close family of her own for caregiving. What do you recommend for people like this?.Most Look Forward to Boost; Low-Income Retirees Worry Benefits Could be Trimmed.You outline two troubling problems that we are hearing about with much greater frequency, especially over the past year:.Extending The Payroll Tax Cuts: Employees' Social Security payroll taxes were reduced by 2 to 4.2 percent in December. Because it makes the Social Security trust funds reliant on general revenues, it would jeopardize the Administration's ability to fully pay Social Security benefits now, especially as we approach the August 2nd debt limit.