TSCL enthusiastically supports the bills mentioned above, and we look forward to helping build support for them in the coming months. .In setting prices, drug makers rarely acknowledge the considerable federal funding and research that have helped develop their products; they have not offered taxpayer-investors financial payback. .(Washington, DC) – Older Americans are not to blame for an exploding federal budget deficit warns The Senior Citizens League. "Congress can't cut taxes by an estimated .7 trillion and then turn around and blame rising deficits on ‘entitlements' and aging," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. .Separately, the House Ways and Means Committee Means Committee approved the largest expansion of Medicare since the addition of drug benefits two decades ago. .To see if your Members of Congress will be holding town hall meetings during the spring recess, click HERE or call their local offices. You can find contact information HERE. .Why Does My Doctor's Office Need to Call My Insurer Before Scheduling a CT Scan? .Require Medicare beneficiaries to pay a higher portion of the Part B premium. Premiums for Part B cover physician and hospital outpatient services. The premiums of most seniors, those with incomes under ,000, equal 25 percent of Medicare's total cost of services, and the federal government covers the other 75 percent of the cost. This proposal would require seniors to pay 35 percent instead - like higher-income seniors do now. The 2010 Medicare Trustee report estimates that Part B premiums at the 35% level would be 9.30 per month in 2012. .This is a much longer legislative update than usual but there is a lot of information about the pricing of prescription drugs that we believe is important for you to know and that you might be interested in. .TSCL strongly supports passage of the waiver legislation because of the potentially severe negative consequences they would eventually have on Medicare patients.