However, he must first apply for Medicare Part B and pay the initial Part B premium to get the process started, and he only may do so during the Medicare General Enrollment Period. This period is going on right now, starting January 1 through March 31, each year. The application can be safely done online at the Social Security Administration's website. The coverage will not actually start until July 1, 202In the meantime, we recommend that you contact his local Medicaid or Senior Services department to learn if his income qualifies him for short-term Medicaid coverage. .How do I go about contacting the Social Security Administration? .This week, two new cosponsors – Reps. Mike Burgess (TX-26) and Lamar Smith (TX-21) – signed on as cosponsors to the No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act (H.R. 1716). The cosponsor total is now up to thirty-one. .We have been hearing from hundreds of you who are watching the inflation numbers and eagerly looking forward to getting a high inflation boost next year. But a number of you point out an urgent problem that occurs. COLA Estimated to Be 6% to 6.1% For 2022 , editor ."We should not allow health insurers to limit how much cost-sharing assistance can help patients at the pharmacy counter," the spokesperson said. .TSCL's research has consistently found that Medicare Part B premiums rank as one of the fastest growing senior costs. Yet Medicare premium costs are not included in the measure currently used to determine the annual COLA — one major reason why COLAs do such a poor job of keeping up with rising healthcare costs. TSCL continues to lobby for a more fair and accurate COLA and supports legislation that would use a seniors' index — like the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) — to determine the annual boost. .The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) has concerns about a number of elements outlined in the revised Simpson-Bowles plan – namely the adoption of the "chained" CPI, since seniors are already being short changed by the COLAs they receive. The plan released this week is not likely to be adopted in its entirety, but it will serve as an important comparative tool in the coming weeks as leaders in Washington continue to search for sequester alternatives. The automatic cuts are scheduled to hit on Friday, March 1st, but leaders have said they believe the deadline is flexible and their best chance at redesigning it might come at the end of the month, when the continuing resolution to fund the government expires. Until then, TSCL will continue to monitor the negotiations, and we will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website. .If Congress considers cuts to the COLA, changes in the benefit formula and increases in the retirement age, special attention will be needed regarding when changes would become effective and how they would be phased-in. The recession is already having a significant impact on the growth of Social Security benefits. If Congress cuts benefits, or reduces the growth in benefits during this slow recovery, it will likely produce a long lasting double-whammy effect for retirees. .This Part B premium cost - shifting includes shifting those higher costs to state Medicaid budgets that pay the Part B premiums for low-income Medicare beneficiaries — which account for about 19 percent of all Medicare recipients. If this would occur in 2021, this would add yet another fiscal shock to state budgets that are already strained beyond anticipated budgets due to the coronavirus pandemic.