Medicare supplements tend to have higher premiums than Medicare Advantage plans, but will cover most, or even all of your out-of-pocket costs, depending on which policy "A" –"N" that you choose. Medicare Advantage plans have lower premiums, but you instead pay co-pays for every service. If you get sick or you are hospitalized, your out-of-pocket costs could be thousands of dollars. But unlike Medicare alone, Medicare Advantage plans have annual out-of-pocket maximums to cap what you pay. Those maximums average ,332 in 2017 but can be as high as ,700. .Unlike the temporary payroll tax cuts, which wouldn't affect Social Security's finances, the diversion of Social Security contributions into private accounts would substantially reduce the amount of money available to pay current beneficiaries. This "privatization" of Social Security contributions would drain the Social Security Trust Fund in short order and require the transfer of TRILLIONS of dollars from the U.S. Treasury into the Social Security Trust Fund in the coming decades to continue paying current benefits. .This week, two new cosponsors – Reps. Louise McIntosh Slaughter (NY-25) and Joyce Beatty (OH-3) – signed on to the Strengthening Social Security Act (H.R. 3118), bringing the total up fifty-four. If signed into law, the bill would reform the Social Security program in three ways: it would adjust the benefit formula, resulting in more generous monthly benefits; it would adopt the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E), resulting in more accurate cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), and it would lift the cap on income subject to the payroll tax. TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 3118 since it would extend the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund responsibly, without cutting benefits for seniors. We were pleased to see support grow for it this week. .The odds are high that someone you know is receiving lower Social Security benefits than they deserve. Two federal laws – the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) – affect millions of our nation's dedicated teachers, firefighters, peace officers, and other public servants by unfairly reducing or eliminating their earned Social Security benefits. .This failure of the COLA to keep up with rising Medicare Part B premiums and other retiree costs is creating a dilemma that is growing in magnitude, not only for older Americans, but also for the nation's safety net programs like Medicaid. A majority of Social Security recipients depend on their benefits for more than half of their income, and almost half of all retirees have only limited or no retirement savings at all. The lack of adequate growth in benefits over the past eight years is pushing modest income seniors into poverty, forcing even those who started out as middle-income retiree households to rely on Medicaid for help paying Medicare costs, rental subsidies, fuel assistance, food pantries and senior meals programs. .In what was a major organization-wide effort, the TSCL staff dispersed across House of Representatives offices to hand-deliver the message of our supporters. The hundreds of thousands of petitions that poured into the TSCL office from nearly every Congressional district were organized into a long list of vocal and concerned citizens. The effect created a bold statement and embodied the true spirit of TSCL's politically-engaged supporters. .This week, TSCL announced its support for two bills that would prevent a spike in next year's Medicare premiums and deductibles for approximately 30 percent of enrollees. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (OR) introduced the Protecting Medicare Beneficiaries Act (S. 2148) on Wednesday with the support of nine original cosponsors. Rep. Dina Titus (NV-1) introduced similar legislation in the House called the Medicare Premium Fairness Act (H.R. 3696). .Understand the type of Medicare options available to you. You can receive coverage for the costs that Medicare does not pay in two main ways: through a Medicare supplemental (sometimes called Medigap) or through a newer Medicare Advantage managed care plan, like an HMO or PPO. Both types of plans cover medically necessary hospitalization as well as doctors' and outpatient services. Many, but not all, Medicare Advantage plans also offer Part D prescription drug coverage. There are significant differences between these two types of plans that affect what you pay out-of-pocket. And those differences are often buried in all the tedious-to-read fine print. .The Senior Citizens League believes Congress can prevent the triggering of the Social Security hold harmless provision and eliminate spiking Medicare premiums entirely by providing an adequate COLA. This includes providing an emergency COLA or boost for 2021.