This week, TSCL endorsed new legislation from Congressman John Duncan, Jr. (TN-2) that would result in a more fair and adequate Social Security COLA. The bipartisan bill, called the Consumer Price Index (CPI) For Seniors Act (H.R. 2016), would require the Bureau of Labor Statistics to create and publish a new inflation index based solely on the spending patterns of senior citizens. .The 1977 legislation was intended to correct an earlier flaw in the Social Security benefit formula. That flaw raised the initial retirement benefits for future retirees too quickly. Government economists predicted at the time that, if not corrected, the initial monthly benefits of future retirees could be greater than their monthly earnings prior to retirement - far above the levels ever anticipated (2). The flawed benefit formula would bankrupt Social Security. .We reported earlier this year that President Trump issued executive orders to lower prescription drug prices under Medicare by linking them to rates paid in other countries and allowing Americans to buy medication imported from Canada. .Low and middle-income earners pay taxes on all of their earnings. In recent years, however, the share of total wages earned in the U.S. and subject to Social Security payroll tax has declined because the earnings of the most highly paid workers have grown rapidly. Most of the proposals to increase the taxable maximum would also raise benefits of the affected workers by counting earnings above the old cap in the benefit formula. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that eliminating the taxable maximum would extend the Social Security solvency as much as 50 years.[1] .Without passage of the waiver legislation the Office of Management and Budget will impose the Medicare payment cuts at the end of the current congressional session. While Social Security, low-income programs such as Medicaid, and veterans' benefits are exempt from sequestration, Medicare payments can be reduced up to 4%. ."The group of Democrats blocked one committee from advancing their party's drug-pricing legislation, with two members arguing it was too far-reaching and could stymie innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. Some of those Democrats also want to rein in a proposal to expand Medicare to include dental coverage, a high priority for progressives such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)." .Doing nothing and allowing the Social Security recipients to go with just a 1.3% COLA, would be highly detrimental to the Social Security income of all retirees, and would not extend program solvency. TSCL is working to make Members of Congress aware of the need for providing this boost to your Social Security benefits both to strengthen your retirement income and to protect you from huge spikes in the Medicare Part B premium. .But here's the real kicker. A statute of limitation loophole is hamstringing Medicare from recovering overpayments. Federal law allows a Medicare claims contractor to reopen a payment determination for "good cause" at any time within 4 years of the date the original payment determination was made. But another provision of law bars the recovery of overpayments from providers that are "without fault." And the law states that a provider is deemed to be without fault 3 years after the year in which the original payment was made unless there is "evidence to the contrary." .Budget Moves Through Committee