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What are budget cutters looking at? Here are a few key proposals under discussion. After reviewing these, tell us what you think by taking our survey..Two Bills Gain Cosponsors.These price increases are very likely to block some patients from affording their medication, following instructions for taking the drugs, result in higher costs for treatment in the future because of not taking the prescriptions as directed, and cause higher incidents of additional health issues and death rates..To learn more about how work affects your benefits, see the publication "How Work Affects Your Benefits," SSA Publication No. 05-1006You can find it at or by calling toll free at..This year, for the first time since the early 80's, the Social Security Trust Fund that pays retirement and survivors benefits fell into deficit and is paying out more than it receives in payroll taxes and taxes on Social Security benefits. In years in which there was an excess of Social Security taxes, the federal government used the surplus revenues for other purposes and then credited the Trust Fund with special non-marketable government bonds representing IOUs. But with the recession and prolonged economic recovery, the taxes that fund Social Security plunged. At the same time, enrollment is soaring as seniors who have lost their jobs turn to Social Security early. When the Trust Funds don't receive enough tax revenues, then the government must find the cash to redeem the IOUs to pay benefits. The only options Congress has is unsustainable levels of borrowing, tax increases, or cutting benefits..Alexandria, VA Seniors will get one of the lowest cost-of-living adjustment paid in the past decade next January. But even so, COLAs remain a key target in post-election deficit reduction efforts, warns The Senior Citizens League, one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. A plan that would slow the growth in annual COLAs is a key provision of major deficit reduction plans quietly under consideration in Congress..Under growing pressure to reduce the federal deficit, the prospect of major Social Security and Medicare cuts is the greatest it's been in almost three decades. The recent debt limit deal calls for a bipartisan committee that has until Thanksgiving to come up with a plan to cut the deficit by .2 trillion. TSCL believes that the committee would very likely include a change to a more slowly growing consumer price index that would cut annual-cost-of-living adjustments. There are also proposals that would require seniors to pay a bigger portion of their Medicare costs..TSCL continues to meet with Members of Congress this year asking them to support provisions that would bar payment of Social Security benefits based on illegal work. Stay up-to-date, sign up for TSCL's e-alerts and e-newsletters..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.