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The I.O.U.s in the Social Security Trust Fund are a special type of non-marketable bond issued by the U.S. Treasury when excess revenues are received. The cash revenue that isn't needed to pay benefits is "borrowed" and used for other government spending. By law, the I.O.U.s held by the Trust Fund pay interest, and that forms an additional source of income - on paper, at least..Although the bill applies to children, TSCL is concerned that the DREAM Act is a back-door approach to a much wider amnesty that would have an enormous impact on the financial solvency of Social Security and Medicare. Under current policy, immigrants who become U. S. citizens, as young people under the DREAM Act would, may file a petition for green cards to allow their immediate relatives to legally immigrate to the U.S. Relatives who qualify immediately for a visa are spouses, unmarried children under the age of 21, and parents. Once the parents receive the green cards they can legally apply for work authorization, and renew it annually..The standard monthly Medicare Part B premium, which covers doctors and outpatient services, will increase by .10 from 5.50 in 2019, to 4.60 in 2020. At the same time, the COLA will increase an average Social Security benefit of ,460 by only .40. After deduction for the Part B premium, that would leave just .30 per month for someone with average benefits to cover all other rising costs, including other rising Medicare premiums for prescription drugs or supplemental coverage..Stay Informed and Sign up for the TSCL Newsletter.Much of Wednesday's hearing was focused on the repeal of the ACA. Several lawmakers in the majority party including Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander called for the establishment of a solid ACA replacement plan. He said: "The American people deserve health care reform that's done the right way, for the right reasons, in the right amount of time. It's not about developing a quick fix, it's about working toward long-term solutions that work for everyone." Congressman Price seemed to agree, and he expressed his support for a health system that ensures health insurance access but not a guarantee of coverage for all..The federal government negotiates prescription drug prices for Medicaid and for veterans, but it is not allowed to negotiate lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries. Do you support this policy?.To learn more about important issues affecting seniors, to sign a petition to Congress, or to find contact information or your Members of Congress, please visit the ACTION CENTER of our website..Here is more from the report: "Pfizer, which played arguably the biggest role in 2020's vaccine race, also had a frenzied year politically. In addition to giving roughly million to members of Congress, Pfizer also wrote checks to 1,048 individual candidates in state legislative races..Although there's a new higher standard deduction for U.S. taxpayers this year, tax professionals are cautioning taxpayers against automatically taking it. The 2017 tax legislation retains the deduction for medical expenses. This year, taxpayers can deduct medical expenses exceeding 7.5% of their Adjusted Gross Income, but that threshold will rise to 10% of the AGI in 2019, so taxpayers won't be able to deduct as much. It would be a good idea to crunch the numbers now, to learn if itemizing and the medical expense deduction would reduce your taxes.