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Seniors deserve a Washington that works for them, and every American should be able to retire and live with dignity. I'm committed to doing everything I can in the Senate to ensure that happens..We normally try to stay away from items that are covered in the news during the week. There would be no point in sending this out of all we did was repeat what you already know. But this time we have decided we need to talk, at least a little, about the subject that has captured the attention of the major and local news media, and the government this week..Several lawmakers also asked Congressman Price about comments he recently made to reform the Medicare program before the end of the year. Congressman Price told the HELP Committee Members that there are no immediate plans to reform the program, and that he has not yet discussed the topic with the new administration. Congressman Price has authored several proposals in recent years that would transform the traditional Medicare program into a "premium support" model, where beneficiaries would be given vouchers to purchase private health insurance. TSCL opposes such plans since we believe they would result in higher out-of-pocket costs for seniors, and we will continue to advocate against them in the months ahead..Regardless of when you decide to start benefits, you should enroll in Medicare when you turn age 6Failure to enroll by your Medicare deadline may result in permanent enrollment penalties that you would add to the cost of your Medicare Part B premiums for the rest of the time you have Medicare..Mary Johnson a policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League told Stephen Ohlemacher of the Associated Press that she has serious concerns about the long-term impact of Tuesday's COLA announcement. She said, "This loss of anticipated retirement income compounds every year, causing people to spend through retirement savings far more quickly than planned. Over the course of a 25- or 30-year retirement, it reduces anticipated Social Security income by tens of thousands of dollars.".I'm single and I live alone. When I retire this year I will receive payments from a 401 and a traditional IRA of approximately ,000. My annual Social Security benefit will be around ,000. Will my Social Security benefit be subject to income tax even though I will not be working?.In normal political times neither party would allow Medicare to be cut. But because of our current highly partisan times, it would require ten Republicans to join with Democrats to stop the cuts to Medicare with new legislation if reconciliation were used..How Do I Know When It's Time For Assisted Living If I Live Alone?.TSCL is hopeful that Congress will provide the Social Security Administration with the funding and staffing necessary to make progress on reducing the DI backlog. As Ranking Member John Larson said at Wednesday's hearing, "[A backlog of] six hundred days is flat-out unacceptable." In the coming weeks, TSCL will provide the Social Security Subcommittee with policy recommendations. We will summarize them here in the Legislative News section of our website after they are submitted to the Subcommittee for review.