As we've reported in the past, the Democrats have the narrowest of majorities in both the House and the Senate. They can't afford to lose any Democratic votes in the Senate and only 3 in the House. That's crucial because Republicans in both Houses are almost unanimously opposed to the legislation Democrats want to pass, so Democrats have to do it on their own..Members of the committee heard from several witnesses at Wednesday's hearing, including Stephen and Rita Shiman, two older Americans from Saco, Maine who were recently victims of the common grandparent scam against seniors. The couple was contacted via phone by a scammer who claimed to be their grandson. The caller told Mr. and Mrs. Shiman he was being held unfairly in a county jail and needed ,230 to be released on bail. They completed the transaction without a second thought and learned they had been scammed later that day, when they called to check in on their actual grandson..The report assumes that no other change would be made in the law and that the lost revenues would not be replenished with general revenues from the Department of the Treasury..Even patients on Medicare have faced this problem because not all health care providers accept Medicare or some Medicare supplement policies..The largest percentage of those surveyed in TSCL's 2017 Senior Survey - 37 percent - reported that their household expenses rose by more than 9 per month in 2016, yet the annual cost of living adjustment increased benefits by only 0.3 percent, about .00- .00 per month for someone with average benefits. Few beneficiaries actually saw an increase in benefits at all, however, because rising Medicare Part B premiums took the entire COLA. "This flat growth in Social Security forces tens of millions of retirees and their families to spend more out of savings every year, go into debt, or look to Medicaid and other safety net programs to make ends meet," Johnson says..Appropriations Talks Continue.One witness, Scott Serota, President and CEO of the BlueCross BlueShield Association, suggested a gradual shift from the current fee-for-service system toward a series of new payment models that would allow for geographic variability. Another witness, David Bronson, President of the American College of Physicians, suggested a patient-centered medical home model, where each patient would choose a physician with a specific team of caregivers. He explained that his model would result in better coordinated care for seniors..This week, action on Capitol Hill was slow as Members of Congress remained in their home states and districts to prepare for the upcoming election. Lawmakers are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, November 13th, to begin the lame-duck session..The program will ship roughly one million doses per week to about 6,500 pharmacies across the U.S. as a trial run, beginning Feb. 1They also will boost shipments to states by 5% to 10.5 million doses per week, up from the 10 million doses that were announced a week earlier.
