First, re-shop your Medicare prescription drug coverage every fall during Open Enrollment season -- and the same goes for Medicare Advantage if you're in one of these plans. Insurance companies often change their offerings year-to-year in ways that can increase drug costs by hundreds of dollars, or make it more difficult to get certain drugs. At the same time, your drug needs may have changed since the last plan selection period in ways that make a plan less beneficial for you. .Lawmakers Discuss Drug Costs with President Trump .As of yet, the text of the bills has not been released but TSCL will be closely monitoring these bills to determine if we will be supporting them. Coverage of dental and hearing care are two of our priorities and we are hopeful this legislation will provide the solution for one of those goals. .The Senior Citizens League regularly tracks and estimates the projected annual COLA increase with the release of monthly consumer price index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Inflation data through August are confirming that the COLA will be in the vicinity of 0.2%, forecast by the Social Security Trustees, and that would trigger the "hold harmless" provision," Gibbons says. .Alexandria, VHow much will the Social Security cost – of – living adjustment (COLA) boost your benefits? "Probably not enough to prevent a loss of benefit buying power," says Ed Cates, Chairman of The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). The Social Security Administration recently announced that beneficiaries would receive a 1.7 percent COLA effective January 2015, making the sixth consecutive year of exceptionally low growth in benefits. With the average Social Security payment hovering around ,200 per month, the COLA would boost benefits by around .00. .Every other developed country has evolved schemes to set or negotiate prices, while balancing cost, efficacy and social good. The United States instead has let business calculations drive drug price tags, forcing us to accept and absorb ever higher costs. That feels particularly galling for treatments and vaccines against COVID-19, whose development and production is being subsidized and incentivized with billions in federal investment. .Your Initial Enrollment Period starts three months prior to turning age 65, includes the month you turn 65, and ends 3 months after you turn 6Advisor editor Mary Johnson, who has helped dozens of friends and neighbors with their Medicare, highly recommends starting the Medicare enrollment process 3 months before you turn 65, in order to have your new coverage become effective in the month you turn 6Enrolling in Medicare is done online through the Social Security website at www.SocialSecurity.gov. Look for the box that says, "Enroll in Medicare". Or you can get assistance to help you with this. .However, it remains unclear if lawmakers will be able to successfully negotiate an omnibus before the December 11th deadline. Many in Congress are hoping to attach language to the spending measure that would block funding for an immigration executive order that President Obama is set to announce in the coming weeks. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (MD), Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, called the request a "deal-breaker," and said that it would likely result in a veto from President Obama. .The "Doc Fix"