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Fresh is not always more healthful than frozen. From the moment fruits and vegetables are harvested, they begin to lose nutrients. Fruits and vegetables grown in North America may spend up to 5 days in transit before arriving at a distribution center, and another 1-3 days on display prior to purchase. Consumers may keep their produce for up to 7 days prior to consumption. Consequently, fresh produce can lose a considerable amount of nutrients before consumption. A University of California study found, for example, that vitamin C losses in vegetables stored 7 days range from 15% for green peas, to 77% for green beans. Unless you are harvesting and consuming your own home grown fruits and vegetables within a few hours of picking, frozen choices may be just as high in nutrients..Just years before they retired these individuals learned they would have significantly lower benefits than they expected because of amendments to the Social Security Act that were signed into law in 1977 and which have compounded over time..TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 1391 since it would strengthen the program without cutting benefits for seniors. We were very pleased to see support grow for it this week..Benefits are based on lifetime earnings. To be qualified for retirement benefits, workers need about 10 years of earnings. The earnings are indexed to account for changes in average wages since the year the earnings were received. Then SSA calculates the average indexed monthly earnings using the 35 years of highest earnings. A formula is applied to this amount to arrive at the basic benefit..Obviously, action on those legislative matters are of great concern to TSCL and to seniors in general..To find contact for your Members of Congress or to sign a petition, visit the ACTION CENTER of our website. To find information on key bills and issues, click HERE..In July of last year, the Internal Revenue Service issued a notice expanding its interpretation of what constitutes preventive care. As a result it now includes certain items and services that can be considered preventive when they are prescribed to an individual with certain chronic conditions and if they are low-cost and prevent the worsening of a chronic condition or the development of a secondary condition. The notice also contained a list of specific items and services that meet the new criteria for preventive care for chronic conditions. Co-sponsors of the bill include Sens. Tina Smith, Kevin Cramer, Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema..While a multitude of new mandates and burdensome administrative requirements have been layered on over the past several years, payments to physicians have not only failed to keep pace with inflation, they have, in some cases, decreased in real terms..Women who receive Social Security benefits outnumber men who do by almost 18%, according to data from the Social Security Administration. While women tend to outlive men, the average benefit received by women is 26% lower than the average benefit received by men.