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Medicare - age adults 65 and up, and those who are residents of nursing homes are at especially high risk of complications and death from the COVID-19 coronavirus. About 90 percent of the participants of the new survey, which was conducted online during June and July, are Medicare beneficiaries. Survey response indicates support for strengthening program funding versus no change, or prioritizing healthcare delivery through private insurance plans over traditional Medicare. Only 23 percent of survey participants think that priority should be placed on private insurance plans in order to reduce reliance on federal spending and the need to raise taxes, and just 21 percent think the current level of spending is "about right because we could not have anticipated the scope of the coronavirus pandemic.".Action on Capitol Hill remained slow this week, as both Houses of Congress have adjourned for the August recess. However, The Senior Citizens League did see support grow for two key pieces of legislation..Congress Still Working to Avoid Government Shutdown."Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, health care professionals will reportedly spend less time filling out paperwork and more time focusing on delivering the best care for patients," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius..Lawmakers Work Towards Omnibus.EconomicCheckUp® is free and developed by the trusted nonprofit National Council on Aging. The tool asks a series of questions to identify benefits and services that could help you cut expenses and better utilize your existing assets. Give it a test run here: EconomicCheckUp®..This week, The Senior Citizens League's Board of Trustees and legislative team held meetings with several Members of Congress and their top staff to discuss key issues affecting seniors. In addition, one new cosponsor signed on to the CPI-E Act, and negotiations between the House-Senate Conference Committee continued..Later in the week, the President doubled down on his promise to try and cut prices on branded prescription drugs. Word is out that the President is considering an executive order to combat the problems of high cost drugs sold to Medicare and other government programs..While that is certainly better than 2010 and 2011 when inflation was so low that no COLA was paid for two years in a row, it's unlikely to cover seniors' real cost increases. Earlier this year we surveyed our readers and 89% reported that the 1.7% COLA in 2013 increased benefits by less than per month. On the other hand, almost the same number, 88%, reported that their total monthly expenses rose by more than Unfortunately the majority of those people, 40%, said that their monthly costs rose by more than 9.