It would permanently set the Social Security Administration's administrative funding at 1.5 percent of overall benefit payments, more than doubling the funding that the administration currently receives. .Finally, one new cosponsor – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-7) – signed on to Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky's (IL-9) Improving Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs Act (H.R. 1776). The cosponsor total is now up to seventeen in the House. If adopted, it would take several steps to reduce prescription drug costs. It would require the federal government to negotiate lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries, allow individuals to import prescriptions from Canada, accelerate the closing of the Part D "doughnut hole," and cap monthly out-of-pocket drug expenses at 0, among other things. .Your responses to our annual Senior Surveys are a key means to helping us convince Congress to move forward on key issues. Please take our 2021 Senior Survey. .More than one quarter of respondents spent from 0 to 9 a month on their healthcare during the first six months in 201That ranges from 27% to as much as 54% of the average monthly Social Security payment, which is hovering at ,100 this year. The majority of respondents, 45%, reported that they received a monthly Social Security benefit that falls within the range of 1 to ,335 after deduction for the Medicare Part B premium. .Elder abuse affects an estimated 14.1 percent of all non-institutionalized older adults each year, and for every case reported, another twenty-three cases go unnoticed. It is a serious and ongoing problem that Congress must tackle as soon as possible in order to ensure the retirement security of seniors. .Lower spending on prescription drugs. Under our current Medicare system, experts warn that Americans are taking too many unnecessary drugs for dubious reasons. A value-based system would tie the price of prescription drugs to its value in the treatment of the patient. For example, patients with high blood pressure would receive their blood pressure medications for the lowest price or even no co-pay. Value-based systems could lead to reducing the number of unnecessary prescriptions and over-the-counter medications that patients take, while improving their health. .According to the Inspector General's report, of the 6.5 million active numbers, the Social Security Administration had issued payments to 266 of the number holders, but a review found that only 13 people were likely to be still alive and collecting benefits. In addition to the problem of payments to the dead, the balance of the 6.5 million active numbers pose a risk because they could be stolen to claim fraudulent tax refunds and to work illegally. The IRS has estimated that it paid out .8 billion in fraudulent tax refunds in 2013 because of identity theft. .Because of the collapse in the real estate market, experts say that thousands of seniors who need assisted living or nursing home care are remaining in their homes longer because they can't sell or get the price they need to cover their long term care. According to Harris Meyer, in an article for Kaiser Health News, the situation is leaving families under pressure to either pay for their parents' placement with their own money, or to provide care themselves. .Source: "Audits Of Some Medicare Advantage Plans Reveal Pervasive Overcharging," Fred Schulte, Center For Public Integrity," NPR, August 29, 201"Medicare Advantage: Fundamental Improvements Needed in CMS's Effort to Recover Substantial Amounts of Improper Payments, Government Accountability Office, April 2016.