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"Today's approval provides patients with an additional safe and effective treatment option and also expands the number of products that are available," Archdeacon said..If you are in for observation, Medicare considers you an outpatient, and your services are covered under Medicare Part B. Generally, this means you will have a co-payment for each individual outpatient service. In some cases, your total copayments for all services may even be more than the inpatient hospital deductible. In addition, most of the prescription drugs you get in an outpatient setting aren't covered by Part B and you would need to check with your drug plan to find out whether the drugs would be covered..According to a new survey by The Senior Citizens League, premiums for Medicare supplemental insurance, known as Medigap, grew more than twice as fast as Social Security cost of living -adjustments in the past year. About 41 percent of survey participants who are covered by a Medigap policy report robust premium increases in the past 12 months of at least 6 percent or more, particularly for individuals who were covered by a policy for more than two years. "The Social Security COLA for 2019 is 2.8 percent, far lower than the rate that Medigap policies appear to be growing," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League..For people with incomes less than ,000, the monthly Medicare Part B premium in 2017 is 4, and Medicare Trustees expect it to stay at that amount in 201But the vast majority of retirees are paying a Part B premium that's far lower than 4 - about 0 or less - due to a special provision of law that protects Social Security benefits from reduction when Medicare Part B premiums rise more than the COLA raises benefits..Again, thank you for participating in the legislative process by signing the petition. It is my hope that you will continue to keep me apprised of your interest in issues important to you as my colleagues and I continue our work during this 113th Congress.Larry holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies from Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minn. In addition, he completed all course work in the Church-State Studies graduate program at Baylor University, Waco, Texas. He has also taken graduate course work at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C..To make matters worse for them, the Democrats are divided on how to proceed with those bills and unless they can come to an agreement those measures will go nowhere..Legislation that would boost Social Security benefits and restore Social Security's solvency has been under debate this fall in the U.S. House. The Social Security 2100 Act, introduced by Representative John Larson in the House, and introduced by Senator Richard Blumenthal, have strong grass roots support from older Americans. While the House bill is advancing - we are steeling for a tough challenge in the Senate..The Social Security taxable maximum is tied to the wage index, but according to the Congressional Budget Office, the limit on the amount of wages that can be taxed has not kept up with the growth of wages of the most highly paid workers. Because wages for high - income earners are growing faster than for other workers, the taxable share of the nation's earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes is falling - from 90 percent in 1983 to 82 percent in 201The trend is forecast to continue, with the CBO projecting the share of earnings subject to payroll taxation to drop to below 78 percent by 2026.