Third, TSCL was pleased that Congress passed legislation last fall to stave off a 52 percent hike in Medicare Part B premiums for around 15 million beneficiaries. Back in October, our legislative team hand delivered letters to every office on Capitol Hill urging lawmakers to prevent the abrupt and dramatic premium increase. We were pleased when legislation was signed into law later that month to provide relief for the millions of Medicare beneficiaries who would have otherwise seen massive cost increases in January. .The Mayo Clinic has put out the following information as a way of helping you decide what it is that you may be suffering from. You are advised that if your symptoms are the same as in the past you are likely suffering from allergies again. But if there is any variation you should get tested for Covid. And if you have any doubt, getting tested for Covid is probably the right thing to do, especially if you have not been fully vaccinated. .People most at risk of owing taxes include: .If signed into law, the Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act would repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for physician reimbursements, and it would set up a five-year trial period during which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would test and evaluate new payment and delivery models. TSCL strongly believes that the SGR formula breeds uncertainty in the Medicare program for both physicians and beneficiaries. Many doctors have stopped accepting Medicare patients, and many more are threatening to do so if a permanent solution is not established soon. We believe that Rep. Schwartz's bill would bring increased stability to the Medicare program, and we were pleased to see four new cosponsors announce their support for it this week. .SGR Repeal Unlikely This Month .From my standpoint, the Federal Government has no business obtaining your personal medical data. There is no space in the examining room for the government. In response, I introduced H.R. 3218 on October 13, 2011 with Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas. Rep. Huelskamp wrote an op-ed that first brought light to this issue and I am happy to have worked with him in crafting this legislation. H.R. 3218 would "amend section 1343 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to ensure the privacy of individually identifiable health information in connection with risk adjustment." The Federal Government should not be inserting itself in your health care decision-making process. .To date the government has no comprehensive estimate of the costs of such policies on the Social Security Trust Fund, or the cost of benefits based on illegal work. Nevertheless, Congress is studying a number of changes to Social Security that would cut the benefits of both future and current U.S. senior citizen beneficiaries who worked and paid into Social Security legally. .The news was dominated by the pandemic and the beginning of the vaccination roll-out, the drama over President Trump's veto of the National Defense Authorization Act as well as his threatened veto of the government funding/economic stimulus bill, and his continued attempts to try and overturn the election results. .Until then, many Members of Congress will attend local events and hold town hall meetings. The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) urges its members and supporters to attend town halls in the coming weeks, since they are an excellent opportunity for constituents to communicate with their elected officials and have their most pressing concerns addressed.