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But according to a report in Politco last week, "… the administration's Medicare team has put together a revised plan - which was circulated inside the administration on Tuesday, with instructions to expedite approval - to start sending letters to 39 million beneficiaries within the next week, touting the drug-discount cards. The cards would then arrive across December and January, according to four officials with knowledge of the plan.".If you or someone you know is struggling to make their Social Security benefits stretch from one month to another, there are two Medicare programs that can help with medical costs for those eligible - Medicare Savings Programs which cover some Part B costs, and Medicare Extra Help which provides help with prescription costs..The idea is to cut government spending on Medicare by limiting the annual growth of the Medicare voucher to the growth of the gross domestic product plus one percentage point. However, for the last 40 years national healthcare spending has exceeded the growth of the gross domestic product by more than two percentage points, and TSCL is highly concerned that the vouchers would rapidly become increasingly inadequate to purchase sufficient coverage or that seniors would face significantly higher premiums. In addition, the CBO recently wrote that the average age and cost of enrollees remaining in the current system would increase over time, and TSCL believes that would lead to far higher premiums for older beneficiaries as well..The CMS announced new streamlined payment mechanisms for healthcare provider transactions this week. Doctors, hospitals, health plans, and states will all see reduced administrative costs under CMS' larger "administrative simplification" initiative..How much will the New Year's 1.5% cost-of-living adjustment increase your Social Security benefits? How much did your household budget increase over the past 12 months? Your response is important because the only thing standing between seniors and COLA cuts right now is public pressure on Congress and the White House. Major budget negotiations are underway as the nation faces another government shut-down on January 15th, hitting the debt limit again the first week in February. Members of Congress need to hear how their actions would impact real people like you..It would: require Medicare to negotiate lower Part D drug prices, allow individuals to import prescription drugs from Canada, require greater price transparency from drug manufacturers, accelerate the closing of the Part D "doughnut hole," restore drug rebates for low-income seniors, and put a 0 monthly cap on prescription drug spending for individuals. Together, these changes would dramatically reduce drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries. In the coming months, TSCL will continue to work towards its passage in Congress..Letter to Marilyn Tavenner, Acting Administrator, CMS, from Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, July 11, 201Testimony of Robert A. Berenson, M.D., Institute Fellow, the Urban Institute, U.S. Special Committee on Aging, July 18, 2012..To improve program solvency, TSCL's surveys have found that a large majority of survey participants, 72%, support applying the Social Security payroll tax to all earnings instead of just the first 2,800 in earnings.."Today's approval provides patients with an additional safe and effective treatment option and also expands the number of products that are available," Archdeacon said.