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"The Earnings Suspense File isn't getting enough attention from Congress," says TSCL Chairman, Ed Cates. "Wages are an important indicator of the extra costs associated with immigration reform," Cates notes. Wage records are used to determine both the number of quarters worked to qualify for Social Security, and to calculate the initial benefit. The wages represented by the Earnings Suspense File would potentially form a portion of Social Security benefits for undocumented workers who later gain legal status..The report added, "Since the first case arrived in the U.S. at the start of the year, medical professionals have gone from fumbling in the dark to better understanding which drugs work -- such as steroids and blood thinners, and the antiviral medicine remdesivir. Allocation of intensive medical resources have improved. And doctors have learned to hold off on the use of ventilators for some patients, unlike with many other severe respiratory illnesses..The rate of growth in the number of older Americans who receive Social Security has slowed sharply recently, and the drop may be due in large part to the large number of deaths from COVID-19 among people age 65 and up. In March of 2021, the number of people receiving retirement benefits from the Social Security Administration rose 900,000 to 46.5 million, the smallest year - over - year gain since April 2009..One of the first steps in bringing down prices is demanding transparency from the many players in the prescription drug supply chain. Many experts point to pharmacy benefit managers as potentially contributing to rising list prices and out-of-pocket costs. PBMs are the veritable middlemen of the drug industry - they serve as intermediaries between drug manufacturers, health insurers, and pharmacies. Some believe that, during this process, drug makers are forced to raise the list prices of their drugs just so they can offset the costs of rebates paid to these PBMs..TSCL is pleased that lawmakers on the Senate Aging Committee are raising awareness of scams against seniors and we agree that more must be done to combat the growing issue. In the months ahead, we will advocate for legislation that would protect older Americans from financial abuse. In the meantime, we encourage our supporters to read the Aging Committee's updated Fraud Book by clicking HERE. As Chairman Collins said on Wednesday, "The more that seniors know about these scams, the less likely they are to fall victim.".TSCL Announces Support for New Legislation.Roughly half of all older taxpaying households paid income taxes on a portion of their Social Security benefits this year, even though many of them had incomes as low as ,000 or ,000 for married couples filing jointly. Those modest incomes are just two times higher than the federal poverty level. Do you believe this tax on Social Security benefits is fair and, if not, what are you doing to fix it?.Early last year, prior to even knowing the impact of the pandemic, the Social Security Trustees forecast that the financing of the Social Security Trust Funds would turn negative this year. The Social Security Trustees forecast that the Social Security retirement and survivors trust fund would receive a total of 5.6 billion in 2021 but estimated that program costs would be more than ,019.2 billion..Please Be Careful When Using Disinfectants and Cleaners