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It's likely the surprise billing package will be attached to the year-end government spending bill, as lawmakers attempted to do late last year, assuming they can come to an agreement by the end of the year.."The Underlying Causes Of Surprise Medical Bills," David Blumenthal and Shanoor Seervai, The Commonwealth Fund, April 26, 201"Surprise! Congress Takes Steps To Curb Unexpected Medical Bills," Julie Appleby, Kaiser Health News, December 22, 2020, "Surprise Medical Bills Cost Americans Millions. Congress Finally Banned Most Of Them." Sarah Kliff and Margot Sanger-Katz, The New York Times, December 22, 2020..If adopted, the Audiology Patient Choice Act would improve Medicare coverage for hearing services that are performed by licensed audiologists. According to the bill's sponsors, under current law, Medicare does not recognize audiologists as providers of health-related hearing services, and it will only reimburse audiologists for diagnoses when they are referred by physicians or nurse practitioners. The Audiology Patient Choice Act would ensure access to a full range of hearing services provided by licensed audiologists..Earlier this year, after passing a .9 trillion tax bill in December and a .3 trillion spending package in March, leaders in the House called for a vote on a balanced budget amendment to the constitution that could have been disastrous for your Social Security and Medicare benefits. The amendment ultimately failed in the House, thanks to the voices of concerned citizens like you, but many lawmakers have said they aren't giving up on the drastic measure..While seniors with Medicare aren't required to have an Obamacare health plan, they have worries too. Obamacare cut Medicare by more than 0 billion over ten years, and that's starting to impact seniors age 65 and older. In particular, the law cut reimbursements to Medicare Advantage plans by 6 billion..With work authorization, and if she starts a job under her valid Social Security number, her employers are required to withhold taxes and report earnings into the system. Under this situation Social Security will receive new taxes and the mother would become eligible for retirement benefits based on her own account with about ten years of covered work. She could file a claim for benefits once she meets age requirements..This week, the partial federal government shutdown continued for the fifth week, and The Senior Citizens League announced its support for one new bill that would expand Medicare coverage to include essential health services..When it comes to the big drug companies, they do not want limits on the costs of the drugs they manufacture. That is why they make so many campaign contributions..This week, five new cosponsors signed on to Rep. Mike McIntyre's Notch Fairness Act, bringing the total up to seventeen. The new cosponsors are: Reps. William Enyart, Betty McCollum, Collin Peterson, Don Young, and Jim Himes. If signed into law, Rep. McIntyre's bill would provide modest compensation to Notch babies, or those who receive lower Social Security benefits because they were born between the years 1917 and 192TSCL believes that some compensation for this injustice should be provided, and the Notch Fairness Act would do just that.