The FDA is working with vaccine and drug manufacturers to develop new vaccines for and find more drugs to treat COVID-19 as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, some people and companies are trying to profit from this pandemic by selling unproven and illegally marketed products that make false claims, such as being effective against the coronavirus. .Expanding Medicare coverage to include dental care. Millions of seniors are afflicted with age-related oral health issues. Yet under current law, the Medicare program is prohibited from covering most routine and emergency dental procedures, including fillings, root canals, extractions, and cleanings. The Medicare Dental Benefit Act (S. 22) would expand Medicare Part B coverage to include basic dental services and ensure that older Americans have access to the primary and preventive care that is needed to ensure good health in retirement. .When Should Single People Move to Assisted Living? .Social Security is by far and away the nation's most successful and popular insurance program. .In a statement that was released on Thursday, Mary Johnson – Policy Analyst for The Senior Citizens League – said: "The bottom line is that Medicare Part B premiums rise several times faster than COLAs, and those premiums are now high enough to cause the net Social Security benefits of millions of people to remain flat for years at a time … This would make the fourth year in a row that this particular group has not seen a boost in their net Social Security benefits." .Source: "The 2018 Long-Term Budget Outlook," The Congressional Budget Office, June 2018. .Drug spending nationally increased by 76% between 2000 and 2017, and the costs are expected to increase faster than other areas of healthcare over the next decade as new, expensive specialty drugs are approved, according to the researchers. .Medicare and many state Medicaid programs are in the process of transitioning to value-based medicine that would change the way government healthcare programs pay for care. Doctors and healthcare providers are given incentives to improve health and to reduce the incidence of chronic disease — in order to lower spending on healthcare and provide better care at a lower cost. There's emphasis on giving providers single payments for a "bundle of services" instead of paying for each service, checkup or X-ray. This reimbursement system differs from traditional fee-for-service Medicare, as well as Medicare Advantage plans' "capitated" payments, in which providers are paid more for sick patients, regardless of health outcomes. .In addition, two new cosponsors – Congressmen Jim Langevin (RI-2) and Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (MP) – signed on to the Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act (H.R. 3302), which was recently introduced by Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22). If adopted, his bill would base the COLA on the CPI-E and cover the cost by removing the Social Security payroll tax cap for high earners. H.R. 3302 now has nine cosponsors in the House.