This week, in the days leading up to the five-week August recess, Members of the House focused on a series of tax extension bills and Members of the Senate debated cybersecurity legislation. Meanwhile, one House Subcommittee met to discuss the removal of Social Security numbers from Medicare cards, and The Senior Citizens League saw support grow for three key pieces of legislation..This week, lawmakers in the Senate voted on three health reform bills that would have repealed and replaced parts of the ACA if enacted. All three of the bills the Better Care Reconciliation Act, the Obamacare Repeal and Reconciliation Act, and the Health Care Freedom Act better known as the "skinny repeal" bill failed to win passage on the Senate floor..Mo soberly told me that it has been a grueling experience for "a small-town emergency medical worker" who, before COVID, was used to mainly pushing paper, and just going on only a few calls a week for the "random" auto accident or over-dose. Day after grueling day, Mo and his crew have answered calls to hundreds of homes in my county. And sadly, they are still at it. If you haven't gotten one yet, please consider getting a COVID vaccine! Contact your local health department or doctor..The Senior Citizens League supports legislation The Social Security 2100 Act, H.R. 1391, introduced by Representative John Larson, that would adjust the income thresholds to ,000 for single filers and 0,000 for joint filers, and replace it with other sources of revenue..Opportunity to utilize new technologies such as telemedicine that bring health care to those in rural communities..Yet incredibly, despite the grim statistics, members of both parties are seeking common ground on deficit reduction, and COLAs remain the target of cuts. TSCL is fighting back and plans to deliver thousands of petitions protesting the cuts later this year..Congress has reallocated payroll taxes at least 9 times in the past to temporarily avert trust fund financing crises, according to the Congressional Research Service. "Doing so now would be much more difficult, because the retirement program is in cash deficit, and the government is borrowing money to cover retirement and survivor benefits," Cates points out. "Reallocation from the retirement trust fund would mean the government would have to borrow more, a recipe for more explosive debt limit show downs in coming months," he says. "The situation could put all Social Security benefits, including retirement and survivors benefits, at risk of cuts in debt limit negotiations," Cates explains..According to another report in the Washington Post, HHS Secretary Alex Azar and "Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, are distancing themselves from the idea, each emphasizing that they were not consulted by the White House before the president's announcement, said three officials familiar with their thinking.".Another participant, Walgreens, will begin using its federal doses on Feb. 12.
