I'm helping my mother shop for an assisted living facility. She's considering one within reasonable driving distance, but a clause in the paperwork stipulates that she must agree to mandatory arbitration to settle any disputes. Can you explain the pros and cons of this? .Unlike the experience of the general public who access state or federal health care exchanges to choose coverage, the choices offered to Members of Congress are dramatically different than those from many other parts of the nation. For 2017, Members had 57 plan options in "Gold" plans alone on the DC shop exchange. In many areas of the nation, particularly rural ones, Gold plans aren't even available. Unlike the Silver and Bronze level plans, Gold plans have lower deductibles, and cover 80% of costs with patients paying only 20%. Silver plans, for example, typically come with deductibles ranging from ,500 - ,000, and pay 70% of costs while patients pay the other 30%. And in some areas of the country, people are happy if they have a choice of more than six silver plans. Certain parts of the country have only one. .No change to 401(k)s or IRAs: Prior to enactment, concerns were high that tax reform would restrict the amount of pretax contributions working people could make to workplace retirement accounts. Congress did not do this, and the tax rules affecting these accounts, for the most part, remain the same. .The foam has been more effective in clearing most of Graves' symptoms and her Medicare Part D plan has paid for most of the cost of the "golden foam" so far. But Graves is keeping use of the medicine to a minimum, not only for health reasons, but because she doesn't want to run through her Part D initial coverage limit and hit the doughnut hole. .This week, one new cosponsor – Rep. Elijah Cummings (MD-7) – signed on to the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E) Act (H.R. 1030), bringing the bill's total up to twenty-five. If signed into law, the CPI-E Act would base the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) upon the spending patterns of seniors. Currently, it is based upon the way that young, urban workers spend their money – a method that underestimates the spending inflation that seniors experience. A study conducted by TSCL this year found that seniors have lost 31 percent of their purchasing power since 2000 – a clear sign that the current COLA is growing too slowly. .During these meetings, the following issues were discussed: Social Security cost-of-living adjustments, Social Security Notch fairness, Social Security Totalization Agreement reform, and repeal of both the windfall elimination provision (WEP) and the government pension offset (GPO). Support was expressed for many of these key issues, and TSCL looks forward to working with these offices in the future. .Where Can I Get Help With What Medicare Doesn't Cover? .Negotiations on how to fund the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Medicare physician "doc fix" continued this week. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (MI-4) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (MT) led the 20 congressional conference committee members in talks aimed at producing a bill by the February 29th deadline. ."While there's nothing unlawful per se about rushing to enact policy in the final days of a presidential administration (indeed, it's a time-honored tradition), executive branch officials may not circumvent clear legal requirements in the eleventh hour to achieve goals they couldn't accomplish in the normal course," he said.