Acting Social Security Commissioner Carolyn Colvin said, "I have directed an immediate halt to further referrals under the Treasury Offset Program to recover debts owed to the agency that are 10 years old and older pending a thorough review of our responsibility and discretion under the current law." But a week after the announcement The Washington Post reported that "many taxpayers say the government is still seizing refunds." The Social Security Administration said letters to those taxpayers went out before the announcement, but it remains unclear whether they will get their money back. .We understand that our proposal may not be the most perfect solution to the injustice; however, it stands a much better chance of getting passed in Congress and is the best possible solution we know of. .Provide a modest boost in monthly benefits to retirees to make up for years when no COLA, or only a negligible COLA, was payable. .The federal government shutdown that occurred from midnight December 22, 2018, until January 25, 2019, was the longest in U.S. history. It was so disruptive that an analysis from Standard and Poor's (S & P) estimated that the shut down cost the U.S. economy .6 billion. While the government shutdown was terrible for all affected, failing to raise the U.S. debt limit, also called the debt ceiling, could make the recent shut down look like a tea party. .Proposals to reform Medicare have been floating around the halls of Congress since 2010, but none have been as radical or risky as one recently released by four prominent Senators. In an attempt to curb Medicare spending, the group came up with a plan that would phase out Medicare completely, and it would do so at the expense of current enrollees, beginning as early as 201The proposal, introduced by Senators Rand Paul (KY), Mike Lee (UT), Lindsey Graham (SC), and Jim DeMint (SC), would transition beneficiaries into the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program – the same health program available to Members of Congress. .First, one new cosponsor – Representative Mike Bishop (MI-8) – signed on to the Audiology Patient Choice Act (H.R. 2276), bringing the total up to thirty-three. If adopted, H.R. 2276 would improve Medicare coverage for hearing services that are performed by licensed audiologists. Under current law, audiologists are not recognized as providers of health-related hearing services, and the Medicare program will only reimburse them for their services when patients are referred by physicians or nurse practitioners. .Background Information: Social Security beneficiaries received another record-low cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of just 0.3% this year. But if the COLA were based on a more accurate measure of inflation for seniors like the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), they would be receiving an increase of 2.1% according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Question: Do you support legislation that would give older Americans a more fair and adequate Social Security COLA? .Do you have a low benefit and think you may be affected by hold harmless? TSCL would like to hear from you! Contact us at . . Paula chose to take the employer-provided Medicare supplement, dental and vision coverage at 6 per month, but "opted out" of the expensive Part D. Instead we found more reasonably priced drug coverage at .90 per month, and covering the prescriptions she currently took with no deductible, using the Medicare Drug Plan Finder at www.medicare.gov.