Increasing funding for Continuing Disability Reviews, which are conducted periodically to ensure that disabled enrollees still qualify for benefits. CDRs return to the program for every invested..[i] Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund: Background and Solvency Issues, William R. Morton, Congressional Research Service, November 20, 2-13, R43318..TSCL's report entitled "The Cost of Illegal Earnings Under Totalization With Mexico" examines three ways illegal Mexican workers could become entitled to benefits under an agreement with Mexico. The report concludes, "responsible, comprehensive cost estimates of the totalization agreement with Mexico simply cannot afford to ignore the very large and significant cost of benefits based on illegal, unauthorized work. Doing so results in highly misleading and incomplete estimates that would jeopardize the future solvency of Social Security, leading to benefit cuts and higher taxes.".This year, for the sixth straight year, the Trustees issued a "Medicare funding warning." Marilyn Tavenner, CMS Administrator, stated: "While Medicare is stable for now, we have a lot of work ahead of us to guarantee its future." Expenditures by the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund have exceeded income since 2008 and are expected to do so for the foreseeable future. The Trust Fund is expected to cover only 87 percent of costs in 2024 and 67 percent of projected costs in 2050..On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy met with four expert witnesses to discuss several options for strengthening the Social Security Program. Chairman Sherrod Brown opened the hearing by saying, "A few years ago … all of the conventional Washington wisdom was that we would have to cut the program. Today, not only are cuts to Social Security deeply unpopular, but we are now debating how much we need to expand the program.".The CPI-E Act, if signed into law, would amend the Social Security Act with regard to the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security and Medicare benefits. Currently, the COLA is based upon the spending patterns of young, urban workers, but this legislation would calculate the COLA based on the spending patterns of seniors..One way to strengthen Social Security is to do what's known as "scrapping the cap." Americans only contribute to Social Security on the first 7,200 in income earned every year. That makes no sense. Why should the very wealthiest get a tax break, when nurses, electricians, and grocery store clerks pay into the system on 100 percent of their earnings? Closing this loophole would extend the program for at least another generation..Social Security benefits are one of the few types of retirement income to be automatically adjusted annually for inflation. In 2020, more than 61 million Social Security recipients received a 1.6 percent annual COLA, which raised the average ,460 benefit by .40 per month..That is only one of the issues involved with high drug prices, and the drug companies aren't the only issue.

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A majority of the 54 million senior and disabled Americans who receive Social Security depend on it for at least 50 percent of their total income, and one in three beneficiaries rely on it for 90 percent or more of their total income..As things are scheduled for now, the Senate will return to the Capitol on Sept. In the meantime, it will be in a "pro-forma session." That happens in the Senate at a time during which no legislative business is conducted. The sessions are held to satisfy a provision of the Constitution that prohibits either chamber from adjourning for more than three days without the permission of the other chamber. When the House or Senate recesses or adjourns for more than three days, both chambers adopt concurrent resolutions providing for the recess or adjournment.."This is an important perspective to have in our current legislative environment," says Johnson. Some Members of Congress are discussing indexing the COLA to the more slowly growing "chained" consumer price index. "The current index used to calculate the COLA already understates inflation experienced by retired beneficiaries, because it doesn't adequately represent the spending of older consumers," Johnson explains. "A more slowly growing index would only exacerbate the problem of maintaining the buying power of Social Security benefits over time," she says. … Continued

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Senate Committee Questions HHS Nominee.A report released by the House Oversight Committee last week said that from 2016 to 2020, the 14 top drug companies spent 7 billion on stock buybacks and dividends. That is some billion more than the amount spent on research and development, the report said..Many Members of Congress will schedule town halls throughout the month of August, giving voters the opportunity to voice their opinions. … Continued

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