Each month, due to the Social Security Act Amendments that were signed into law in 1977, more than 3.7 million Notch babies receive Social Security checks that are lower than the benefits they originally anticipated. Last year, Representative Mike McIntyre (NC-7) introduced the Notch Fairness Act, a bill that would provide modest compensation to those who were born in the Social Security Notch, or those years between 1917 and 192Even though TSCL lobbies aggressively in favor of the Notch Fairness Act, many Members of Congress believe that the bill's passage is unlikely this year because it would add approximately .9 billion to a growing deficit. To offset the cost of the Notch Fairness Act, we've come up with three fair and responsible options that we hope Congress will consider. First, Congress could increase efforts to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse. .More headaches are on the way this tax season. For the second year in a row, the Making Work Pay Tax Credit didn't work as planned for an estimated 13.4 million taxpayers, according to the Treasury Department's Inspector General. Seniors are high on the "Most Negatively Affected List," and may wind up owing taxes and even a penalty. .The Senior Citizens League believes that Social Security benefits and annual COLAs could be strengthened three ways: .In March, the Trump administration paused routine nursing home inspections, which typically occur about once a year. Instead, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) asked that state agencies focus on inspecting facilities for their infection control practices, such as whether staff wash their hands or properly wear protective clothing before tending to multiple patients. .Congressional Recess Comes to a Close .TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 2745, H.R. 3118, and H.R. 1795, and we were pleased to see support grow for each of them this week. ."This year's zero COLA combined with next year's insufficient increase will have a devastating impact on the long term adequacy of Social Security benefits for millions of Americans … we hope that you will act swiftly and responsibly before the end of this year," the letter stated. .Some MA plans, including UnitedHealth – the largest provider of MA coverage – have already begun modifying their offerings in order to accommodate the increasing financial pressure. Last year, UnitedHealth dropped thousands of physicians from its networks, which left many enrollees doctor-less. Without much notice, they had to either find new physicians, or pay more out-of-pocket to see their former, trusted and out-of-network doctors. Because the open enrollment period had already ended, seniors were unable to change plans in order to keep their physicians and their low costs. .This week, two new cosponsors signed on to the Strengthening Social Security Act (S. 567 and H.R. 3118), bringing the total up to three in the Senate and thirty-nine in the House. The new cosponsors are Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH) and Mark Pocan (WI-2). If signed into law, the bill would reform the Social Security program in three ways: it would adjust the benefit formula, resulting in more generous benefits; it would adopt the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E), resulting in more accurate cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), and it would lift the cap on income subject to the payroll tax. The Strengthening Social Security Act would extend the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund responsibly, without cutting benefits for seniors.