Last week we wrote about a new bill that was expected to be introduced this week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that would lower prescription drug prices on some of the most expensive drugs. The plan would allow the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate the price of up to 250 drugs per year, and the lower prices would apply to people both with private insurance and those on Medicare. .Under the cuts, House members have seen 948 fewer salaried positions in their offices. The 2012 budget calls for an additional 6.4 percent reduction and more cuts to Congressional staffs and office supplies. .CBO is strictly nonpartisan; conducts objective, impartial analysis; and hires its employees solely on the basis of professional competence without regard to political affiliation. CBO does not make policy recommendations, and each report and cost estimate summarizes the methodology underlying the analysis. .Many seniors are struggling with their vastly diminished retirement accounts following the stock market crash. Additionally, the inventory of unsold houses has now reached record highs and the forecasts for retirees who need to get their cash out of real estate are gloomy indeed. .One is that vaccines for the flu and pneumonia may be protective because the two diseases they are designed to prevent are known to affect the brain. Another possibility involves evidence linking Alzheimer's to a general weakening in the immune system and to changes that allow more bacteria and viruses into the brain. .Two new pieces of legislation in addition to H.R.1565 (see above) have been introduced to stop these kinds of scams. .From my standpoint, the Federal Government has no business obtaining your personal medical data. There is no space in the examining room for the government. In response, I introduced H.R. 3218 on October 13, 2011 with Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas. Rep. Huelskamp wrote an op-ed that first brought light to this issue and I am happy to have worked with him in crafting this legislation. H.R. 3218 would "amend section 1343 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to ensure the privacy of individually identifiable health information in connection with risk adjustment." The Federal Government should not be inserting itself in your health care decision-making process. .Many of our nation's seniors live on fixed incomes and struggle to afford everyday expenses. Sadly, a large number of these individuals are also disabled. There are several existing programs that support the most vulnerable among us, but the number of agencies, applications, reporting requirements and additional obstacles they must tackle to access these funds make it unnecessarily difficult for them to receive the benefits they desperately need and deserve. .On Wednesday, Congressmen Elijah Cummings (MD-7) and Peter Welch (VT) met with President Donald Trump to discuss the state of the prescription drug industry. At the meeting, they requested President Trump's support for TSCL-backed legislation called the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act (H.R. 242, S. 41), which would require the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of Medicare Part D beneficiaries. Currently, Medicare is prohibited from doing so despite the fact that other federal health programs are required to.