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The most recent report is that the Trump administration expects to begin sending 0 prescription drug discount cards to seniors by Jan. 1..How To Increase Medical Tax Deductions for Older Taxpayers.When there is no or a very low COLA, a special provision of law known as "hold harmless" protects beneficiaries when the dollar amount of their COLA is lower than the dollar amount of their Part B increase. The Part B premium is adjusted to prevent a reduction in Social Security benefits from one year to the next. "But when this provision occurs on a program-wide basis - as it did in 2016 and 2017, the entire increase in Medicare Part B for the year is shifted to the people who are not protected by hold harmless, Johnson notes. Instead of the Part B increase being spread over all Medicare beneficiaries, the total cost increase is borne by only 30 percent of Medicare beneficiaries who are not protected by the hold harmless provisions. They include:.Expanding Social Security by ensuring fair payroll tax policies can not only ensure Social Security solvency for years to come, but can help people enjoy a more comfortable retirement without deep benefit cuts.."The combination of lower benefits and higher expenses in recent years means many more seniors are already struggling to make ends meet," said Larry Hyland, chairman of The Senior Citizens League. "We agree that Social Security must be reformed in order.Medicare pays for a wide range of services including many preventive benefits, but routine eye care is not one of them. Medicare-eligible adults with diabetes can, however, get a dilated eye exam to check for diabetic eye disease. The patient's primary.How Much of Your Social Security Is Taken By Medicare Costs?.This week, Members of Congress continued working on a .1 trillion spending bill to fund the federal government past December 11th. Lawmakers in the Senate passed a five-day continuing resolution on Thursday afternoon to buy more time for the negotiations. At the time of writing this week's update, those in the House had not yet passed the stopgap funding bill, but they are expected to overwhelmingly vote in its favor before midnight on December 11th, and President Obama has already said he will sign the short-term fix into law..Opportunity to expand and preserve this vital benefit for future generations..don't start feeling better.