The chances for legislation remain strong as more experts say older seniors need a benefit boost to protect them from outliving their retirement resources. Your continued support, letters, and phone calls to Members of Congress make all the difference in building co-sponsorship. TSCL has been instrumental in building support for the Notch Fairness legislation and remains committed to passage. .Congresswoman Gloria Negrete McLeod represents California's 35th Congressional District encompassing the communities of Bloomington, Chino, Montclair, Ontario, Pomona, and portions of Fontana and Rialto. .Instead they learned they received observation care, which is considered an outpatient service, and is billed under Medicare Part B. With that designation, patients can have higher out-of-pocket costs even though they may have the very same health problems as people admitted as inpatients. .First, two new cosponsors – Representative Paul Gosar (AZ-4) and Representative John Larson (CT-1) – signed on to the Audiology Patient Choice Act (H.R. 2276), bringing the total up to thirty-two. If adopted, H.R. 2276 would improve Medicare coverage for hearing services that are performed by licensed audiologists. Under current law, audiologists are not recognized as providers of health-related hearing services, and the Medicare program will only reimburse them for their services when patients are referred by physicians or nurse practitioners. .But this doesn't necessarily mean that the rising Part B premium would reduce an individual's net Social Security benefits next year. Due to a special provision of law known as the Social Security "hold harmless" provision, the Medicare Part B premium is adjusted to prevent an overall reduction in Social Security benefits from December of the previous year. The provision only applies to about 70% of all Medicare beneficiaries, however, and does not protect people whose overall income is so low that their Medicare Part B premium is paid by state Medicaid programs, and individuals with incomes above ,000 or married couples with incomes above 5,000. .In the weeks ahead, TSCL will continue to advocate for tax reforms that would benefit the financial security of older Americans, and we will post updates on the movement of the Ways and Means Committee's bill here in the Legislative News section of our website. For more information on TSCL's tax reform recommendations, click HERE. .In coming years, growing program cost pressures could mean that some illegals may benefit from the use of invalid and fraudulent Social Security numbers at the expense of others who worked and paid into the system legally. TSCL's new 2014 Senior Survey found that 87 percent of respondents favor prohibiting payment of Social Security benefits calculated on earnings from unauthorized work by illegal immigrants. TSCL supports legislation that would prohibit earnings under invalid and fraudulent Social Security numbers from use in determining entitlement to Social Security benefits. .TSCL Supports New Legislation .However, taking this action would cause at least two difficulties for the President. Signing legislation to reduce Medicare spending on the drugs would generate official budget savings that Congress could have applied to other health-care legislation -- bills to expand insurance coverage or reduce other drug spending, for example. Executive action taken before a bill's passage would remove a key bargaining chip, and likely reduce the scope of a health-care bill expected in the coming months.