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Congressional Response: Senator Byron Dorgan (D, ND) Responds to Your COLA Petition
(COLA) for seniors. I share the concern of many Social Security payments have increased slightly, but the Medicare premium withdrawn from Social Security checks also has increased and will again be raised in 2006. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced an increase of $10.30 in the Medicare Part B premium for 2006, a 13.2 percent increase over the current premium. I recognize that many older Americans have a difficult time making ends meet, especially when they must rely on a fixed income. I am pressing the Senate to examine proposals to control the Medicare premium increases. For example, I'm concerned about excessive Medicare payments to private HMOs. Eliminating these excess payments could be used to lower Medicare premiums. As you know, S. 275 has been introduced in the U.S. Senate and is intended to improve COLAs for our nation's seniors. This bill has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over Social Security matters. I hope that Committee will review the merits of S. 275 in the near future. Thanks again for sharing your concerns about this important policy issue. October 2005 | ||||||||
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