Are You Spending Too Much on Your Medicare Coverage? 2022 Social Security COLA Likely to be 6 to 6.1% Older Consumers Report Food as Fastest Growing Cost in 2021 Update: Social Security COLA For Next Year Could Be 6.2% Congressional Inaction Could Cost Thousands in Social Security, Says New Analysis From The Senior Citizens League The "Medicare Tax" That Never Made It To The Medicare Trust Fund 88 Percent Of Older Adults Want Medicare To Negotiate Drug Prices Social Security Buying Power 62% of Retirees Think Social Security COLA Needs a Minimum Guarantee of 3% Retirees Spent Less on Healthcare Costs in 2020 .In addition, the AHCA would repeal a tax created by the ACA that serves as a critical funding stream for Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. Cutting the tax would accelerate the insolvency of the Medicare Part A Trust Fund, and in a matter of a few years, it would become exhausted. In a Washington Post opinion piece, former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Andy Slavitt wrote, "That's clearly no accident: The program would wind up right where ‘entitlement hawks' such as House Speaker Paul D Ryan (R-Wis.) want it – in crisis. If this bill became law, the speaker would finally be positioned to change Medicare to a voucher program." .This week, one new cosponsor, Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (PA-8) signed on to the Public Servant Retirement Protection Act (H.R. 2797), bringing the cosponsor total up to eight. If signed into law, H.R. 2797 would repeal the windfall elimination provision (WEP) from the Social Security Act and establish a new formula for equalizing benefits for those with non-covered earnings. TSCL is very supportive of the Public Servant Retirement Protection Act since it would go a long way in granting dedicated public servants the retirement security they deserve. We were pleased to see one new cosponsor sign on this week, and we hope that support continues to grow in the coming months. .When my husband and I were planning the timing on our Social Security benefits, our financial advisor suggested that we could maximize our payout if I started with a spousal benefit based on my husband's account, while letting my own retirement benefit grow. I continued to work and started the spousal benefit at age 66, my full retirement age. Now I am 70, but have not received any notice from Social Security about my own retirement benefit. Does this mean I won't get anything higher than I already receive? .Major findings: .At that point Congress would either must cut benefits in a major way or raise taxes to pay for continued benefits, something that Congress has refused to do for years. .How much are you over-paying for your prescription drugs? The only way to find out is to do a drug plan comparison based on all the drugs you take. This is the time of year you can make changes during the Medicare Open Enrollment period, which runs through the month of November and ends December 7th. Give the Medicare Drug Plan Finder a try. You can get free one-on-one counseling by contacting your local Area on Aging, State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) or senior centers and ask for help comparing Medicare drug plans. .Similarly, Sen. Mike Lee (UT) wrote in a statement: "The Fifth Circuit should be commended for its well-reasoned decision to prevent President Obama from implementing his lawless executive amnesty program. Our immigration system is in desperate need of reform. But that reform must be agreed to and passed by Congress, not unilaterally imposed on the American people by the executive branch." .Last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its warning for cruise travel for the first time since several outbreaks on ships brought the industry to a halt last year.