TSCL is calling on Congress to close this loophole, and endorses the "No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act of 2007" (H.R. 736), introduced by Representative Dana Rohrabacher (CA). The legislation would close the loophole by excluding earnings of any wages for unauthorized work. .More than 10,000 people died waiting for a disability decision from the Social Security Administration in 201The rising death toll coincides with the growing backlog of people awaiting a decision about their eligibility for Social Security disability insurance benefits. But even after a disabled individual has been found eligible, he or she must wait 5 months for benefits to begin, and 2 whole years before Medicare benefits start. The long waits, especially for Medicare, have forced many low to middle-income disabled beneficiaries to deplete their savings while they wait. .More generous medical expense deductions for 2017 and 2018: The final tax bill retains the deduction for medical expenses and delays a previous change that would have limited the medical expense deduction for people age 65 and older in 2017 and thereafter. Under previous tax law, all taxpayers could deduct out-of-pocket medical expenses that exceed 10% of adjusted gross income, or only 7.5% for taxpayers age 65 or older. The amount of medical expenses that this group of taxpayers would be allowed to deduct was originally scheduled to rise to 10% in 201The new tax bill delayed that change, retaining the 7.5% threshold for medical expenses for taxpayers age 65 and over in 2017 and 201The change to 10% will go into effect beginning in 2019. .Unfortunately, no. The highly controversial U.S. Social Security Totalization Agreement with Mexico that was signed by the Bush Administration is still pending. The agreement has not been submitted for review to the President or Congress, but that could quickly change, particularly in an election year. TSCL believes that if put into effect as it currently is written, the agreement would drain funds away from Social Security that are needed for the benefits of U.S. senior citizens. Totalization agreements were designed to eliminate dual taxation that occurs when a workers from one country works in another country and is required to pay Social Security taxes to both countries on the same earnings. .The basic science that has allowed the small company to move so rapidly was developed with a huge prior infusion of federal money to come up with a treatment for diseases like Zika. .The Senate, where Republicans hold the majority, has yet to make a decision as to whether to defer taxes for its employees. .Normally it would seem logical that a bi-partisan bill would have a very good chance of passing in the Senate, but these are not normal times. In fact, four of the five Republican Senators whose offices we visited this week, and who are on the Finance Committee, voted against their own chairman's bill. The five Senate offices we met with were Scott (SC), Thune (SD), Toomey (PA), Alexander (TN), and Burr (NC). We picked these Senators because all are members of at least one of the committees that any bill to lower drug costs would have to go through. .TSCL also announced its support this week for the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act (S. 41, H.R. 242), which was introduced by Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN) in the Senate and by Representative Peter Welch (VT) in the House. Their bill, if signed into law, would require the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate prescription drug prices on behalf of nearly 40 million Medicare Part D beneficiaries. If HHS were able to negotiate similar prices as those paid by Medicaid and the Veterans Health Administration, the Medicare program would save billions of dollars annually, and beneficiaries would have better access to more affordable prescription drugs. .Now, the Associated Press has reported that one administration official has said the odds are 75-25 that the program will not happen at all.