Despite the coronavirus emergency, TSCL is continuing its fight for you to protect your Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits. We have had to make some adjustments in the way we carry on our work, but we have not, and will not stop our work on your behalf. .The CPI-E tends to grow more quickly than the CPI-W in most years, because it more accurately accounts for the percentage of income that retirees spend on healthcare and housing costs. Those two categories tend to increase several times faster than inflation, and tend to take a bigger share of retiree income. The CPI-E tends to give less weight to items like gasoline and consumer electronics which have fallen significantly in recent months and helped drag down the COLA for 2020. .Pet health insurance may not be worth the cost. While many veterinarian practices have brochures for pet health insurance, shop carefully, and read the fine print about what these policies do and don't cover. Pet owners can expect to pay between to per month for premiums, often more than what you pay in services most years. Consumer experts suggest that if you are worried about catastrophic costs, put the money you would spend on pet health insurance premiums into a pet savings account. .Millions of other public servants find themselves in similar situations, often too late to do much about it. To reconcile this inequity, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) enthusiastically supports the Social Security Fairness Act (S. 896 and H.R. 1795), a bill that would repeal both provisions and grant public servants the retirement security they deserve. The bill was introduced by Senator Mark Begich (AK) in the Senate, and by Rep. Rodney Davis (IL-13) in the House. So far, it has gained significant traction in both chambers. In the House, it recently reached one hundred co-sponsors, and in the Senate, nearly twenty lawmakers have signed on in support of it. .Unlike many other organizations TSCL accepts no government funding -- this leaves us free to truly represent the interests of supporters like you. .And, given the unfunded mandates and billions of dollars in regulatory costs from Obamacare – the last attempt at government-controlled healthcare, Medicare-for-all would undoubtedly break the back of at least half of our rural health care providers. .Alexandria, VA (April 5, 2011) Congress is considering three major deficit reduction proposals that would make seniors pay even more for their Medicare than they do now. The debate over federal spending on Medicare is occurring at the same time a majority of seniors are reporting higher out-of-pocket Medicare costs, according to a new survey by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. Retirees received no annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in both 2010 and 2011, leaving them with less Social Security income to cover much higher monthly bills. About 47 percent of respondents report receiving lower Social Security payments this year, and more than 60 percent said their overall monthly expenses had increased or more. .You can depend on TSCL to be in the middle of the fight to secure Social Security and Medicare and make sure we all receive the benefits we depend on and that we have already paid for during our working years. .Here are some ways to trim the cost of visits to the vet: