A seventeen-member conference committee comprised of Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate is currently working towards a long-term bipartisan deal to keep the federal government operating. Should they fail to reach a compromise before the looming deadline, it will shut down once again. .One of our purposes in visiting with those offices was to find out why they do not support the bill and to see if there is any hope that some compromise to the bill could be reached. The main reason they do not support the Grassley-Wyden bill is because it has a provision that they believe would, in essence, result in government price-setting of drug prices and would be a first step toward a one-payer (meaning government) health care system. Each office mentioned other bills that they might support but there is not one bill that the Republican majority is currently in favor of and that might have a chance to pass. It was also stated that because this is an election year there is a very short timeline for action to be taken. .Congress should restrict price increases of prescription drugs to no more than the rate of inflation. — 83 percent support, 13 percent not sure, and only 5 percent opposed. .The Medicare Hotline number is The number to report Medicare fraud is You may also wish to look at their web site. www.hcfa.gov .This week, lawmakers in the House and Senate remained in their home states and districts to continue the fall congressional recess. .The ongoing problem of extremely low COLAs, and double digit Part B premiums could be eliminated entirely if Congress were to focus instead on ensuring a higher net Social Security benefit. This could be done by enacting a one - time benefit boost or an emergency COLA. Either approach would satisfy the Social Security Act's hold harmless requirement that an individual's net benefit will not decrease from one year to the next as a result of an increase in the Part B premium, as specifically stated in section (§1839[f]). To prevent the triggering of hold harmless it would be very important that an emergency COLA payable in January 2021 is structured as an actual boost to the net benefits of Social Security recipients, rather than simply providing a flat emergency payment by check. .What you can do: Contact your Members of Congress and tell them to enact legislation that would ensure you get an emergency COLA in 202Let's tell our Members of Congress that you are asking to receive the 2.5% COLA which was already estimated in the January 2020 Social Security budget baseline by the Congressional Budget Office. You can send an email to your Congressman at www . .Within two years of enactment, the Government Accountability Office would report to Congress and the task force on the financial exploitation of older Americans, including the associated economic costs, contributing factors, unreported cases, and policy responses. .Sources: "Choices for Debt Reduction," The Congressional Budget Office, November 2012.