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A new analysis by The Senior Citizens League, one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups, indicates that changes the government has already made in the late 1990s to how it calculates the CPI have resulted in cutting the Social Security benefits of today's seniors by about 7 percent since 2000. Social Security recipients, who retired with average monthly benefits of about 6 in 2000, lost 7 this year alone, and about ,293 in COLA growth over the past twelve years. According to the analysis, the CPI changes that became effective by 2000 will cut more than ,000 of Social Security income from individuals who retired with average benefits over a 25-year retirement. "Chaining the COLA would further deepen the loss of benefits," says Larry Hyland, Chairman of TSC.Our job is to represent you to Congress and keep you informed about what is happening. We rely on you to put pressure on your Senators and Representative when it comes to the legislation we need to have passed..In fact, 88% of people who planned to retire in the next 10 years did not know what factors determine the maximum Social Security benefit that they could achieve. Benefits are based on the age at retirement, the number of years worked and the earnings record that your benefits will be based on..Consider dental savings plans. These are buying club - like programs for which you pay an annual fee of to 0 to access a network of dentists who offer discounts of up to 50% for members. You can find a dental plan online at DentalPlans.com..Medicare considers observation care as outpatient services, even though patients may stay in the hospital for several days. Outpatient care is covered under Medicare Part B not under Part A, which normally covers hospital care. Patients can have co-payments for doctor's fees, and every hospital service. That includes charges for any routine drugs your mother may take for chronic conditions like high cholesterol..It turned out that Flo was working for the deep pocketed pharmaceutical industry. They successfully used her ad to sink major legislation proposed by President Bill Clinton to add a voluntary drug benefit to Medicare. It wasn't until 2003 that the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, which added the Part D drug benefit to Medicare, was finally signed into law by President George W. Bush. But, although the bill provided a drug benefit, it specifically prohibited Medicare from negotiating prices with drug manufacturers, even though Medicare negotiates prices for almost every other service and for Part B drugs. High drug prices put patient's lives at risk every day when people can't afford to fill their prescriptions..Prior to 1984 Social Security benefits weren't taxed, and when the tax on benefits was first enacted in 1983, Congress sold it to the public saying it affected "high income" beneficiaries. At that time, only 10% of Social Security beneficiaries paid the tax. But during the 2015 tax season, an estimated 56% of Social Security beneficiary households will owe federal income taxes on part of their benefit income according to the Social Security Administration..And that's not the only way this hospital and others like it are getting shorted. Most rural healthcare providers receive lower Medicare reimbursement rates. That puts rural providers in a financial bind and makes it difficult for hospitals and doctors to keep their doors open for business..The U.S. Supreme Court decision on immigration has significant consequences for Social Security and Medicare, says a recent report by The Senior Citizens League. "President Obama's executive actions on immigration would have provided long - term access to Social Security and Medicare benefits for people who worked in this country illegally, even though the newly - issued green cards are only temporary," says TSCL Chairman Ed Cates