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Years ago, drug legislation was passed that made importation of FDA approved drugs from Canada legal, but the Department of Health and Human Services secretary was required to certify the safety of the drugs. So far, no HHS secretary has been willing to do so, despite regular efforts to get importation going..Another major hurdle was about how to classify .5 billion in veterans' health spending through the VA Mission Act - legislation that Trump himself has championed. The chairmen/women of the Congressional committees that deal with government funding originally agreed to classify that money as "emergency spending" because then it would not violate the overall spending limits Congress has previously agreed to..If Congress fails to prevent a default on the federal debt, older Americans will be impacted in two major ways. First, Social Security benefits would be delayed, and millions of seniors living on fixed incomes would suffer financially. Second, health plans that cover Medicare beneficiaries and providers who treat Medicare patients would likely see postponements in their reimbursements from the federal government. Access to quality medical care could become more difficult for older Americans if that occurs..Will higher-income workers pay their fair share of taxes to Social Security?.From 1950 through 1974, Social Security benefits were increased 11 times through separate pieces of ad hoc legislation at irregular intervals. The increases varied just as they do today but averaged 8% per year over the 24-year period although there were long lapses between COLAs during some periods..Most people don't realize how much money they give up by claiming benefits at age 6For example, consider a woman entitled to a monthly benefit of ,500 at her full retirement age of 6Assuming she lives to age 95 and receives cost-of-living adjustments of about 2.3%, she would receive 8,665 over the course of her retirement. Her final monthly benefit payment would be ,827..Social Security recipients will get 2% cost-of-living adjustment effective January 201But despite it being the largest increase in five years, the news is being met with frustration from millions of retiree households who won't see any of the raise, primarily due to rising Medicare Part B costs..TSCL also supports a second Notch Baby bill that Representative Emerson has introduced in the past - the Notch Baby Health Care Relief Act. That bill would provide a tax credit for the Part B premiums paid by Notch Babies born 1917 through 1926..TSCL has been fighting to stop a payroll tax cut for months because of the damage it would do to the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. Last week we contacted both Senate and House leadership in both parties to reinforce our opposition.