EyeCare America®. This is a service of the Foundations of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, which provides free eye exams and up to one year of care for low-income individuals who qualify. Learn more at www.eyecareamerica.org or call 1-877-877-6327. .Defeating Alzheimer's requires uniting Americans nationwide in conjunction with local government, healthcare experts, and outside organizations like the Alzheimer's Association. We are all in this fight together, and ending this disease will take time and a common focus on the task at hand. That's why we must continue to raise awareness of Alzheimer's and the promising efforts taking place to curb its growth, as well as increase support for patients and their caregivers. While the challenge of battling Alzheimer's is immense, the outpouring of support and dedicated activism for this crucial cause gives me hope that we can one day effectively treat—and eventually cure—this devastating disease. .Based on consumer price index (CPI) data through April of this year, Johnson estimates that the COLA for 2021 will be zero. That estimate could change, however, since there are still five months of consumer price index data to be collected before the Social Security Administration announces the COLA in October. .TSCL is highly concerned that the projected decline in Social Security revenues, along with the expected .5 trillion drop in general revenues caused by recent tax cuts, will create growing pressures to cut federal spending on benefits. The most frequently discussed changes include raising the eligibility age for benefits, imposing means testing, and slowing the growth of the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) by tying the annual boost to the more slowly-growing chained consumer price index. .As outrageous as it is, there are reports of scams involving phony appointments for the COVID vaccine. People have received emails, phone calls or text messages supposedly from local health departments offering to put them on a vaccine registration list that doesn't really exist and then charging them for appointments. .Action on Capitol Hill this past week was limited as Congress re-convenes this week. Meanwhile, a Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) report indicates the effects of House member office budget cuts, and the Congressional Budget Office released a report that would save Medicare 500 billion dollars. .This week, TSCL announced its support for two bills that would prevent a spike in next year's Medicare premiums and deductibles for approximately 30 percent of enrollees. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (OR) introduced the Protecting Medicare Beneficiaries Act (S. 2148) on Wednesday with the support of nine original cosponsors. Rep. Dina Titus (NV-1) introduced similar legislation in the House called the Medicare Premium Fairness Act (H.R. 3696). .The findings show a dramatic drop in inflation from January of 2014 to January of 2015 — due almost entirely to the drop in oil prices. The deflationary trend, while making the price of petroleum products more affordable in the short term, could spell trouble ahead next year for retired and disabled beneficiaries who depend on Social Security for most of their income. The last time the drop in inflation was this steep was in 2009 — when no cost of living adjustment (COLA) was payable the following year. In fact, the drop in inflation is now so deep that TSCL's Social Security policy analyst and Advisor editor, Mary Johnson, forecasts that the COLA for 2016 will be around zero. Going without any COLA is like going without interest on savings and results in a lower Social Security income over time, due to the loss of compounding. .Key Bill Gains Support