More than 61 million people, including adults age 65 and older, and younger disabled adults who receive Social Security disability benefits, get their healthcare coverage though Medicare.[3] The Social Security hold harmless provision protects about 70 percent of beneficiaries (almost 43 million beneficiaries) from increases in the Medicare Part B premium that exceed the dollar amount of their COLA. When an individual's Part B premium increases more than the dollar amount of his or her COLA, the Part B premium is reduced to prevent a reduction in net Social Security benefits from one year to the next. .As part of the economic stimulus bill just passed by Congress those sharp cuts have been put on pause. .Does Medicare Cover Eyeglasses? .Totalization Agreement with Mexico – Preventing an unnecessary and unspecified drain on the Social Security Trust Fund. .In addition, one new cosponsor – Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA-19) – signed on to the Strengthening Social Security Act (H.R. 3118). The cosponsor total is now up to thirty-eight. 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 monthly benefits; it would adopt the CPI-E, resulting in more accurate COLAs; and it would lift the cap on income subject to the payroll tax. H.R. 3118 would extend the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund responsibly, without cutting benefits for seniors. .If you asked a Social Security recipient for a penny for their thoughts on next year's projected 0.2% cost of living adjustment, they could give it to you, but they'd only have .99 left. .Many of these proposals to improve Social Security benefits for women will, and should, also benefit men who took time out of their working careers to care for someone else. However, because women are more likely to outlive their husbands and take care of children, TSCL believes these proposals can particularly help women who gave so much to others, and deserve protection in return. To learn more about these and other proposals that would strengthen Social Security benefits for mothers and caretakers, visit our website at . .On the web: Here's the link to the WTHR TV "Tax Loophole" video or visit www.wthr.com. .In Virginia the law reduced unemployment benefits by half of a person's Social Security check. For example, someone who received ,000 per month in Social Security lost 0, or 5 from each weekly unemployment check. Social Security recipients were rightfully outraged and successfully lobbied the Virginia legislature for repeal of the unemployment "offset" rule. That repeal is now effective in Virginia and numerous other states. Check with your state unemployment commission to learn how Social Security might affect your unemployment benefits.