Under current law, employers withhold 6.2% in Social Security taxes from workers' earnings — an amount that employers match for a total of 12.4%. That money goes to the U.S. Treasury and is used to pay benefits to today's retirees. About 85 percent of all employees, pay Social Security taxes on every dollar earned. .The first new rule affects Medicare Part B drug costs, which are typically infused or injected drugs used mainly in the treatment of cancer. The intent is to cap the cost of those drugs at the lowest price that drug manufacturers receive in other countries and to pay doctors a flat fee for each dose of a drug, instead of a percentage of each drug's cost. .The Senior Citizens League believes the inflation index that is currently used to calculate the COLA – the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners (CPI-W) – underestimates the inflation that Social Security beneficiaries experience largely because it fails to account for rising Medicare costs. .Senate Aging Committee Holds Hearing .There are 1,313,935 active members/supporters. .Hunger and food insecurity is a huge problem in America. Nearly 41 million Americans struggle to put food on the table each day, including five million seniors. Because of their lack of income, many of our seniors are often faced with the frightening decision of whether to purchase food or medicine. .The federal government negotiates prescription drug prices for Medicaid and for veterans, but it is not allowed to negotiate lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries. Do you support this policy? .There is one trend that of particular concern for all consumers. "There's a relentless march upward in the cost of foods, especially sources of protein, (meats, poultry, seafood), dairy, as well as fruits and vegetables, Johnson says. Some categories of food prices especially for fresh fruits and vegetables have climbed in recent years due to widespread damage from severe weather and wild fires. "COVID-19 simply added another layer of disaster cost due to loss of restaurant and school lunch markets, labor shortages for growing, harvesting and food processing, and transportation disruptions," Johnson says. "This is the year to plant a vegetable garden," Johnson says. .TSCL's members and supporters tend to be older, less affluent seniors. They are also, to a large extent, Notch victims — those individuals who receive lower Social Security benefits because they were born between the years 1917 and 1926.