Now, as we draw close to the end of the year, the window for Congress to take major action to lower prescription drug prices is beginning to close. Concern is growing that the prospects of a substantial drug price reduction bill may get lost in the politics surrounding the 2020 election. Legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs is in the House, and a bipartisan bill that would cap out-of-pocket Part D costs at ,100 a year is stalled in the Senate. The whole effort is fiercely being fought by the pharmaceutical industry, and the outcome remains unclear..The panel discussed the following options for strengthening Social Security, among others: updating the benefit formula for low-income workers, modifying the annual cost-of-living adjustment to make it more accurate, increasing survivors' benefits, and creating caregiver credits for those who support aging parents. However, the focus of Wednesday's hearing seemed to be on addressing the insolvency of the Social Security Disability Insurance program..The Supreme Court recently upheld the Affordable Care Act. While most people understood that the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of the "individual mandate," many seniors may not have thought much about how the court's decision would affect Medicare. The decision maintains both new senior benefits and 0 billion in Medicare spending cuts over the next eight years. Here's a list of major provisions that affect seniors:.In some cases, where the surviving spouse is younger, or there is a disabled child, the higher monthly benefit might be preferable because presumably it would be payable for a longer period of time. In addition, the Notch Reform benefit would be split among eligible survivors, for example, a widow and a former divorced spouse. Under these circumstances the higher monthly benefit may also yield more than the lump-sum. But for most Notch Babies or their survivors, TSCL believes the lump-sum would provide a higher benefit..Should I Allow My New Health Law Coverage To "Automatically Renew"?.The Senior Citizens League is pleased that Congress has successfully negotiated a repeal of the SGR, since the flawed formula has not worked as intended for twelve years. It has called for physician pay cuts some as steep as 30 percent more than seventeen times, threatening access to quality medical care for beneficiaries. We are hopeful that the new payment system will bring increased stability to the Medicare program..This week, TSCL announced its support for new legislation from Congressman Walter Jones that would create a Social Security guarantee for all eligible recipients. The Social Security Guarantee Act, if adopted, would guarantee by law the right of individuals to receive Social Security benefits in full and with accurate annual cost-of-living adjustments..TSCL's report contains one of the only up-to-date compilations of Social Security's Earnings Suspense File data, based on government documents, and updated with the most recent Social Security Administration data annually. The data indicate that in the years immediately following the 1986 immigration amnesty, the Earnings Suspense File grew at an unprecedented pace. From 2000 to 2011 the number of mismatched wage reports doubled, jumping from 52 million reported from 1990 to 1999 to 109.7 million from 2000 to 201In addition, the amount of average annual wages represented by the reports has also grown considerably since the 1990s - about 60%, after adjusting for inflation..What do you know about the fastest rising expenses in retirement? Take this quiz at.