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Late last week, lawmakers in the House passed a budget resolution that lays the groundwork for a repeal of the ACA. Now that both chambers of Congress have adopted the resolution, four committees the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, and the Senate HELP Committee will begin drafting legislation to repeal the health care law..Now, 18 years later, TSCL is hopeful that 2021 will be the year when Congress finally enacts legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. This change is supported by about 85% of participants in TSCL's Senior Surveys. In 2019, Congress came very close to passing such a bill. In 2019, the House passed legislation, that would have allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices, but was loathed by the pharmaceutical industry. It stalled in the Senate late in 2019 when Senate leadership refused to take up the bill..Lawmakers remained in their home states and districts this week for the New Year's holiday. They will return to Washington on Monday, January 5th, to begin the first session of the 114th Congress. The Senior Citizens League looks forward to working with both new and veteran lawmakers in the New Year, and we will continue to advocate tirelessly on behalf of our members and supporters in 2015..Never allow anyone into your home to check electrical wiring, natural gas pipes or appliances unless you have scheduled an appointment or have reported a utility problem. Also, ask utility employees for proper identification..The resolution outlines more than trillion in spending cuts, calls for a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and asks the committees of jurisdiction to come up with more than 0 billion in Medicare savings. If fully implemented, it would balance the budget within a decade.."Many food companies decrease the size of their containers, while keeping the same price," Joe said in his comments about price increases that he's observed. "Cost increases get masked when container sizes shrink." For example, after last year's hurricanes, a major orange shortage nationwide led to shrinking orange juice bottles. "Brands that originally sold in 64 oz containers, downsized to 59 oz and then to 52 oz - a 20 percent reduction in what our orange juice money buys today," Joe says..Third, extending the payroll tax cut could make a permanent cut more likely. As of 2009, there were seventy–three "temporary" measures in the books - many of them are now considered as good as permanent. Scott Hodge, the President of the Tax Foundation, recently warned lawmakers about the nature of temporary tax cuts. He stated, "This is going to become a permanent law. Once these things get … cooked in to the system, they're awfully difficult to get rid of.".Social and recreational activities.For more information about your retirement age, and to use retirement calculator tools visit.