When the Social Security Administration announced that the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2016 would be zero, a stunning thing occurred. The Medicare Trustees projected that the monthly Part B premium would increase by an unprecedented .50 (52%) between 2015 and 2016— from 4.90 to 9.30 per month. What does this have to do with the situation today? .Be wary of the information from this acquaintance, and any claim that she has obtained the ,000. While it may be a simple misunderstanding, be careful of scams. Make sure your mom knows she should never give out her Social Security number over the phone to anyone or to anyone you meet who says that it's required in order to receive the ,000 settlement. ."We believe this unannounced policy of increased enforcement is irresponsible," said Representative Gil Gutknecht (MN) in a letter to the FDA and Customs. Gutknecht also said that the seizures violate the will of Congress, which has for three years denied FDA funding for the purpose of preventing reimportation of prescription drugs for personal use. .The amount you get from Social Security may surprise you. While the amount you receive depends on how many years you worked, your earnings, and the age at which you start benefits, the average monthly Social Security payment today is about ,100. People who retire with average benefits will receive about ,200 in 2011 prior to Medicare premium deductions. With people spending as much as 25 years in retirement, people who retire today with an initial benefit of ,100 can expect to receive more than 6,800 in Social Security over 25 years. But that assumes no changes to cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). .Mary Johnson .High Cost of Illegal Work for Social Security Trust Fund .I'm new to Medicare. I didn't realize that Medicare doesn't cover eye or hearing exams like my former insurance at work. My income is pretty low. Where can I go to get these services? .TSCL supports these bills enthusiastically, and we were pleased to see support grow for them this week. For more information, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. .TSCL believes the time has come for Congress to put the needs of U.S. senior citizens and taxpayers first. We support legislation that would ban the use of illegal earnings in determining entitlement to Social Security such as S. 95, to Prevent Social Security Credit from Being Earned without Legal Status, introduced by Senator David Vitter (LA), and "No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act" (H.R. 787), introduced by Representative Dana Rohrabacher (CA).