If your mom has permanently moved out of the area served by her former private Medicare health, she will qualify for a Special Enrollment Period to switch to another private health plan. These plans are also known as Medicare Advantage plans. The rules covering the period you have to shop for and switch to a new plan depend on your circumstances, particularly, whether you notified her private health plan in advance, or after the move. In addition, how your health plan learns of her move, whether from you, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), or the postal service — also affects the period you have to switch to a new plan. .Terry: The anchor effect is the psychological tendency to rely too much on the first piece of information we get in the process of making a decision. For example, when you go to buy a house, the list price becomes the starting point (the "anchor") for negotiations, even if it is a very poor reflection of the home's true value. When you get a solicitation for a charitable donation in the mail, it often lists suggested contributions, starting with the highest figure they hope you will select. That high figure becomes the anchor for your thinking about what to give. .Signatures on the Notch Victim Constituent Petition are also helping to convince more lawmakers than ever to co-sponsor "The Notch Fairness Act." .TSCL continues to support re-importation of drugs more than general importation of drugs made in other countries. And, while we also support imported medicines made in other countries, we strongly insist that the drugs be certified to be sure they are pure and contain only the ingredients they are supposed to have. .The bill now moves on to the full Energy and Commerce Committee for a markup, and later it will likely move to the House Ways and Means Committee, where more offsets will be added. Lawmakers in both the House and the Senate hope to repeal and replace the SGR before January 1st – if they fail to act, doctors who treat Medicare patients will see a 25 percent pay cut. TSCL was pleased to see the subcommittee's bill progress this week, and we are hopeful that Members of Congress will pass a permanent solution before the end of this year in order to preserve seniors' access to quality medical care. As the negotiations evolve, we will continue to post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website. .This week, the Senate Finance Committee met to discuss the proposed Medicare Part B drug demonstration program with Dr. Patrick Conway, the Acting Principle Deputy Administrator and Chief Medical Officer of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). .The good news is that there was progress last week in moving the needed legislation forward. The Senate passed its own version of H.R.1868, which would postpone the cuts for another nine months. .The coronavirus pandemic has also raised a new issue of concern regarding the price of any new treatment or vaccine for the virus. Congress is pumping billions of federal dollars into research and efforts to spur the production of treatments and a vaccine for Covid-19 but there are no price controls as part of the effort. That means you will have already paid, in-part, for any new vaccine or treatment for the virus. .The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on nursing homes, leading to large numbers of residents and staff becoming become ill or dying. We hope that such catastrophes may help focus attention on long-term problems that plague these facilities.