As with nearly every other aspect of our lives, the coronavirus has changed the agenda of Congress. Discussion of a fourth big spending bill to deal with the pandemic began this week and all three sides (House, Senate, and the President) have set out their preliminary positions. .TSCL supports these bills enthusiastically, and we were pleased to see support grow for them this week. For more information, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. .Currently, the funding for Social Security and Medicare programs comes from specific taxes for each program that are levied on the income of every working American. Once collected by the Internal Revenue Service, they pay for current beneficiaries. In years prior to the 2008 recession, more money was collected for Social Security and Medicare than was paid out to seniors. The surpluses were directed to their respective trust funds; however, they were never safeguarded and as result the accounts were raided of cash intended to help our seniors and replaced with Government I.O.U.s. .In May, I introduced bipartisan legislation with Rep. Joe Heck (NV-R). Our plan, the Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act (H.R.5707), ends the broken physician reimbursement system and replaces it with a new, long-term plan that will treat physicians fairly, improve patient outcomes, and reduce costs in Medicare. It also sets us on a long-term path toward greater quality, value, and fiscal responsibility in Medicare and will save billions for taxpayers over the long run. This bill has been endorsed by the Fleet Reserve Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, the American Geriatrics Society, and other leading organizations. .TSCL strongly supports legislation that would provide 70 million Americans with a one-time emergency COLA payment of 3.9% (0). The Seniors and Veterans Emergency (SAVE) Benefits Act (S.2251) was introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren, and a companion bill was introduced in the House by Representative Alan Grayson, H.R. 4012. .Although immigration law forbids work without authorization, immigrants do find jobs and employers report their earnings to SSA. Currently there are no official published data on the amount of money paid into the Social Security system by aliens whether legal or illegal.(5) Social Security's Chief Actuary, Stephen C. Goss, however, has been quoted in the news media as saying that about three quarters of "other–than–legal" immigrants pay payroll taxes.(6) .Reduce the size of the initial retirement benefit that new Social Security beneficiaries are scheduled to receive; .Should lawmakers fail to reach an agreement before midnight on Friday, April 28th, a federal government shutdown will occur. TSCL hopes that Congress will avert a shutdown since Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries would see negative impacts if one were to occur. We will be monitoring the negotiations closely in the coming hours and days and will post progress updates on Twitter. .It accelerated the closing of the "doughnut hole." Under prior law, the Medicare Part D coverage gap or "doughnut hole" was set to close in 2020. The Bipartisan Budget Act accelerated the closing of the gap so that it will occur one year earlier, in 201Instead of paying a coinsurance rate of 30% in the "doughnut hole," beneficiaries will pay 25%. And instead of brand-name drug manufacturers providing 50% discounts in the doughnut hole, they will begin providing 70% discounts. This means that more than one million Medicare Part D beneficiaries will pay less for their prescription drugs next year when they reach the gap in coverage.