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"That simply isn't the case," says TSCL Chairman, Larry Hyland. TSCL conducts an annual survey of typical senior costs. "That data indicates that Social Security benefits have lost more than one-third of their buying power since 2000," Hyland says. "Changes that cut COLAs even further would make it that much harder for seniors and disabled beneficiaries to afford rising Medicare, energy, and other costs," he notes..Firstly, the Senior Security Act will create a Senior Investor Taskforce at the SEC that will exclusively focus on how seniors are being targeted by fraudsters and those who seek to take financial advantage of them. This new Taskforce will identify challenges that senior investors encounter and will identify areas within the SEC or other organizations where senior investors would benefit from changes. The Senior Investor Taskforce will also coordinate with other offices within the Commission and the Elder Justice Coordinating Council. When appropriate, the Taskforce will consult state securities and law enforcement and state insurance regulators to ensure we're all doing as much as we can, at every level of government, to stop this..CMS has also partnered with the Department of Justice to help to increase law enforcement efforts for Medicare fraud and abuse. In 2009, the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team was established to provide a law enforcement arm to the government's effort to stem the tide of Medicare fraud and abuse perpetrators. The special task force combines authorities from local, state, and the Department of Justice and Health and Human Services agencies to increase communication and shared investigative techniques..If signed into law, S. 141 would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which was created in 2010 by the Affordable Care Act..The inflation index that is currently used the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners fails to capture the inflation seniors experience because items like gasoline and electronics are given more weight than medical costs, prescription drugs, and housing expenses..Based on consumer price index data through May of this year, TSCL's Social Security policy analyst and study author, Mary Johnson, estimates that the COLA for 2018 may indeed be significantly higher than in recent years - around 1.9% - 2.1% - but that could change since there are still several months to go before the COLA is announced in October..The fraudsters enlist unscrupulous doctors to approve the test and the doctor receives a kick back from the recruiting company for each prescription. Medicare receives a bill that can range from ,000 to ,000. Victims have later reported that they did not even know the doctor who prescribed the test. Law officials warn that health fairs, senior centers and even church events are magnets for the scam, where recruiters take cheek swabs for genetic testing and collect Medicare numbers..According to The Social Security Trustees, the Disability Insurance Trust Fund is expected to become fully insolvent by the end of next year. Without Congressional action, Social Security trustees estimate there won't be enough tax revenues to pay full scheduled disability program benefits at the end of 201More than 10 million disabled beneficiaries and their dependents face cuts of about 19% in their monthly payments if nothing is done..Petition to Congress in Support of Social Security Notch Reform