So even as this is being written there are reports coming that Congressional leaders are close to a deal on both the legislation to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year as well as a new coronavirus economic stimulus bill..Senate Aging Committee Discusses Alzheimer's Disease.It's important for the public to understand how the bill would increase costs and affect access to health care. The May 4th House vote took place less than 24 hours after the revised bill was posted, and without the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's analysis of the new bill. "Meaning that House GOP Members voted without having adequate time to review the bill, knowing the full cost of the legislation or how the new changes in the bill would impact coverage for their own constituents," Johnson points out. "The public has a right to know that information prior to our elected lawmakers enacting legislation.".Social Security provides an essential foundation to American's retirement plans, but it simply was never designed to be the sole source of retirement income. Social Security replaces about 40% percent of earnings of the typical retiree. TSCL believes that today's retirement crisis calls for more adequate, not reduced, benefits..Better Donut Hole Coverage - Higher Taxes Ahead."'The risks are known. The benefits are still in question,'" said Zaldy Tan, a neurologist and medical director of the Center for Alzheimer's and Memory Disorders at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. ".Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid told reporters this week: "Seriously, I feel good about the omnibus, I think we make progress every day. We started with about 250 riders, our new buzzword for earmarks, and now we're down to as I understand it I haven't seen it about 100.".Dad passed away a few years ago at age 90, after going to the emergency room during a health emergency and then spending a few days in the hospital. He was released to a nursing home where he lived a few more months. When all this happened, we didn't have any professional counseling, and had no idea how complicated this situation would turn out to be. We didn't know what Medicare covered or that it would not cover his nursing home care. Nor did we know how to get Medicaid assistance. Now Mom has no income left but her Social Security, and dad's impossible nursing home bills that she will never be able to pay off. How can we find help with questions about nursing home care, and how the costs would be financed in case Mom needs it next?.In today's environment, working together - whether that's across the aisle, across the country, or across generations - is the only way to keep our communities safe. That spirit and attitude is what America is all about, in the greatest country in the world, and that's thanks, in no small part, to the many accomplishments of our seniors.