In fact, according to TSCL's annual survey of senior costs, Social Security benefits have lost more than one-third of their buying power since 2000 because COLAs underpay recipients. TSCL supports using the CPI-E to determine COLAs that better take into account the spending patterns of older people. For well over a decade, TSCL has lobbied Congress to make the COLA more fair and accurate. TSCL is mobilizing seniors nationwide to contact Members of Congress. .Action on Capitol Hill was slow this week as Members of the House returned to their districts for a week-long recess, and most Members of the Senate kept their focus on a transportation bill and a series of judicial nominations. However, on Thursday, four Senators unveiled a drastic plan to phase out Medicare. .It remains my goal in the 110th Congress to ensure that our Social Security system remains solvent and available to those who have spent a lifetime legally accruing benefits. I will continue to oppose international agreements that risk costing America's seniors their retirement security. In addition, I will continue to advocate an enforcement-first approach to immigration policy. Only when we have the mechanisms in place to effectively stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S. can we begin to address the strain they place on our financial resources, including the Social Security system. .Recently we learned of a woman, now in her 80's, who has moved twice in the past decade to be close to her daughter. Her first move was from the family home in Connecticut to an up-scale retirement community in Virginia, and more recently following her daughter to Arizona after her son-in-law's job changed. Her former Virginia home has been sitting on the market for months. That's posing a drain on her resources, adding unanticipated costs for new housing at a time when her need for caregiving services is growing. Her daughter worried that the former facility wasn't handling things well. .Despite tightening the law, Congress did not fix a policy loophole that would be inadvertently triggered with the passage of comprehensive immigration reform legislation. When determining entitlement for insured status (10 years), and in calculating the initial retirement benefit amount, the Social Security Administration uses all reported earnings from covered employment in the United States, even if the earnings were from illegal or "unauthorized" work. .Potential amendments to the bill were discussed at the hearing, and at this point in the process it seems that measures to strengthen border security and enhance Congressional oversight will be put forth. One committee member, Sen. Al Franken (MN), stated: "I and other Senators will do everything we can to amend this bill." Members of the Gang of Eight, on the other hand, have said they will band together to defeat any amendments that would weaken it. .For example, RMDs for retirees who turned 70 ½ in 2019 would have been based on the value of their retirement accounts on December 31, 201At that time the Dow was 28,462 compared to 24,101 on April 1, 2020, when their RMD was due. However, the CARES Act waiver applies to this group as well as people like you who turn 70 ½ in 2020. .Just how bad is it? We were stunned to learn just how big the disparity in drug prices can be. Recently I compared the highest and lowest prices of the top ten most-prescribed drugs in the U.S. using the Medicare drug plan finder. In my area, a monthly supply of diabetes drug Lantus Solostar for example, ranges from a high of 2.00 from the mail order pharmacy of First Health Part D Value Plus plan to a low of .75 from the network retail pharmacies for SilverScript Choice. In fact, the cost difference between the highest and lowest-cost plans for the ten drugs compared averaged 3 per month! .Because your former son in-law was employed prior to applying for benefits, he was likely approved for SSDI. The program provides benefits to more than 10.9 million disabled beneficiaries, including some spouses and dependent children. To qualify for SSDI, the Social Security Administration determines whether applicants are unable to do any work because of a medical condition that is expected to last more than one year, or to result in death. Beneficiaries receive monthly payments for as long as they remain in the program. If disabled people live to their full retirement age, they transfer to the Social Security retirement program but their benefits do not change. They also qualify for Medicare benefits after a 2-year waiting period.