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Congress has only two ways to address long-term funding fixes for Social Security - benefit cuts and tax revenue increases. TSCL surveys indicate that people who receive Social Security don't support most benefit cuts, and feel that the amount that beneficiaries receive isn't adequate to live on over longer retirements. The average benefit received by disabled workers is lower than the average retirement benefit - ,145 vs. ,235..About one-in-five persons have incomes so low they receive both Medicare and Medicaid. Medicaid benefits can include payment of Medicare Part B premiums and cost sharing. In addition, Medicaid covers benefits that are not covered by Medicare, including nursing home care, and the family caregiving program that is enabling your disabled son and your mom to live with you instead of in a nursing home..The Social Security Notch is the unexpectedly steep drop in benefits that affects people born from 1917 through 192This generation of seniors receives lower benefits than other seniors who had nearly identical work and earnings histories..Reducing wait times. Inadequate funding and a growing hearing backlog have resulted in many DI applicants waiting longer than 600 days to be approved for the program. That's longer than some of them will live. All applicants deserve decisions on their benefit eligibility in a timely manner, and wait times of two years are simply unacceptable..The low COLA announcement from the trustees comes just weeks after TSCL revealed the findings of its 2016 Survey of Senior Costs. The annual survey examined the cost increases of thirty-eight key items between 2000 and 2016, and it found that Social Security benefits have lost 23 percent of their purchasing power since 2000. During that sixteen-year period, the COLA rose by 36.3 percentage points, while typical senior expenses like housing, Medicare premiums, and prescription drugs jumped 75.3 percent. The findings of the survey are a clear sign that the COLA is growing too slowly, and that it's time to switch to a more accurate measure of inflation like the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers..Will current beneficiaries and those close to retirement - people age 55 and older - be protected from benefit cuts?.There are important trade-offs to Medicare Advantage. Enrollees must use the network of hospitals and doctors who contract with the plan. In recent years as enrollment grows, more plan enrollees have been hit with surprise bills for out of network providers - often for thousands of dollars. While traditional Medicare is accepted by any willing doctor in every state, Medicare Advantage coverage tends to be accepted only in a specific geographic area. There are also more requirements for prior approval for certain procedures..Intergenerational programs.Action on Capitol Hill this week has been limited as Congress re-convenes on January 17th. Meanwhile, members of the payroll tax Congressional Conference Committee were named, while the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a plan for increased efficiency and savings.