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This week, The Senior Citizens League endorsed two bills that would expand Medicare coverage to include hearing, dental, and vision services. In addition, lawmakers prepared for a week-long recess on Friday, and two key Social Security bills gained cosponsors..News on the Coronavirus Vaccine Front."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..As far as we can tell, the answer to the question of why this coronavirus is getting so much more attention and such extraordinary measures are being taken as compared to previous flu outbreaks is the fact that this flu apparently spreads so quickly. Because of that, it can overwhelm the ability of local health systems to handle all of those who come down with the flu..The CPI-E Act, if signed into law, would amend the Social Security Act with regard to the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security and Medicare benefits. Currently, the COLA is based upon the spending patterns of young, urban workers, but this legislation would calculate the COLA based on the spending patterns of seniors..For more information about your retirement age, and to use retirement calculator tools visit.."The spending follows a long tradition of generous political giving. Major manufacturers typically make hundreds of modest donations to incumbent members of Congress but avoid donating to presidential candidates, seeing little utility in placing presidential bets..The findings represent a significant one-year loss of 4 percentage points in buying power, with the loss increasing from 30% to 34% from January 2017 to January 201The loss occurred even though beneficiaries received a 2% annual cost-of-living adjustment for 201Housing and medical costs - particularly for home heating expenses and Medigap premiums - were among the most rapidly-rising costs over the past year. The study examines the growth, since 2000, in the price of goods and services that are typical for retired and disabled households, and compares that to the growth in Social Security benefits due to annual COLAs..Even when you spend ,000 out-of-pocket, there are still out-of-pocket costs. At the catastrophic level of coverage there are smaller co-pays or 5% coinsurance, which can further lead to substantial out-of-pocket spending. In 2015, for example, Part D enrollees with out-of-pocket costs above the catastrophic threshold comprised just 2 percent of all enrollees, but their spending totaled 20 percent of enrollees' total out-of-pocket spending for the year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.