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    GOP Backs off "No New Taxes" Stance .Voting this way is a temporary answer to reduce health concerns raised by dozens of lawmakers. Several lawmakers have disease and dozens of others placed themselves in self-quarantine after exposure to someone who was infected. The sister of California Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) died because of an infection. .The "Notch" refers to a major inequity in Social Security benefits that affects seniors born from 1917 through 192According to Social Security Administration data through December 31, 2012, there are about 4.2 billion Social Security beneficiaries born during the Notch years. TSCL estimates that The Notch Fairness Act would cost about .5 billion over four years and could be paid for by doing a better job of eliminating fraud and erroneous payments. … Continued

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    But while the temporary payroll tax cut won't affect Social Security's finances, it also won't change the need to put the Social Security system's finances on a sound footing for future generations. Over the last 30 years, proposals have been made to allow future workers to put some of their Social Security contributions into "personal" or "privatized" investment accounts – with the hope of getting more money back than they would get from Social Security as we know it today. .The Senior Citizens League is proud to have endorsed the BENES Act, and we hope the Senate Aging Committee will work to enact this legislation by the end of this year. To stay updated on the progress of the BENES Act, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. .Elder abuse affects an estimated 14.1 percent of all non-institutionalized older adults each year, and for every case reported, another twenty-three cases go unnoticed. It is a serious and ongoing problem that Congress must tackle as soon as possible in order to ensure the retirement security of seniors. … Continued

The article continued, "The NBER study zeros in on how increases in prescription drug costs among Medicare recipients affect patient choices and comes to a stark finding: ‘Patient cost-sharing introduces large and deadly distortions into the cost-benefit calculus,' the report said." .However, you don't need to read the 265-page report to understand why Medicare is going broke. Last year, Medicare spent 3 billion, but only took in 6 billion—leaving a billion deficit in just one year. With 10,000 new individuals becoming eligible each day, it's only going to get worse. .The Notch Fairness Act In House And Senate .Do not respond to calls or texts from unknown numbers, or any others that appear suspicious. And remember that government agencies, banks, credit card companies, or utility companies will never call you to ask for personal information or money. .Terry Newell currently teaches leadership, decision - making, and ethics courses for a variety of organizations. He is the former dean of the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, and was the director of the Horace Mann Learning Center, the training arm of the U.S. Department of Education. .You may be surprised to learn that Members of Congress, and their congressional staff, receive their employer-sponsored insurance through Obamacare. Their health benefits would also be affected by an Obamacare repeal as well — but unlike your sister and millions of other Americans, Members of Congress already have high quality health insurance to replace their Obamacare plans. In fact, the premium costs of some Members of Congress could go down as they transition back to getting insurance through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB). .We will be putting out more information about this in the next few days and we are working on what we believe is a realistic solution to the COLA problem. Please be looking for that information. .Social Security Reform – Extending the program's solvency without enacting harmful cuts. .The Health and Human Services Department finalized the policy through an interim final rule in November, meaning the agency skipped the comment period. Lowering drug costs for patients is the end goal of the policy, which the government argues justified the speedy implementation.