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You would be FAR better off waiting until after you turn 66 to start benefits at your full retirement age. After reaching full retirement age, you can receive benefits and earn as much as you want with no reduction to your benefits..High Costs for Prescription Drugs More than Just Prices.It is unfair and unjust to expect American seniors to settle for a COLA that is less than what they have spent their entire lives working for, especially when America's seniors have to account for new expenses to keep them safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is why it is critical to base COLAs on an index that reflects what seniors actually spend their money on. It is time for Congress to take action and give our nation's seniors what they deserve..Needless to say, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services still lacks the effective oversight to monitor the wasteful payments that continue to plague the system. The Obama administration has made efforts to increase Medicare's accountability and reign in the waste and fraud that remain at an all time high level. In an education initiative, President Obama recently announced an increased effort and funding for a "Senior Medicare Patrol" program designed to educate Medicare beneficiaries on fraudulent spending from healthcare providers. The goal is to bolster Medicare fraud education programs for seniors across the country, highlighting ways to spot and report suspicious fraudulent activity from healthcare providers..If the Social Security Guarantee Act is signed into law, all eligible recipients will receive benefit guarantee certificates from the Secretary of the Treasury that would require the payment of full benefits. Additionally, the bill will adopt a measure of inflation that would make annual COLAs more fair and accurate, allowing older Americans to better keep up with rising costs..Natural disasters can affect the consumer price index by showing up as higher costs, particularly when gasoline supplies are disrupted, and large numbers of people are forced to evacuate needing shelter and food away from home. But Joe thinks that our government economists may be cooking the books in their methods of measuring price increases..For more information or to view a list of cosponsors, click here.."Home Heating Oil Cost Forecast To Rise 19 Percent This Winter," Reuters, October 11, 201"Prepare To Pay An Extra 5 For Food In 2013," Nicole Seghetti, The Motley Fool, August 6, 201"Healthcare Cost To Rise 7.5 Percent In 2012 Report," David Morgan, Reuters, May 31, 2012..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.