These success stories would not have been possible without the support from tens of thousands of advocates like you who are banding together with TSCL to protect Social Security and Medicare. Once again, TSCL's legislative team has big goals this year. Since the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced seniors would not receive a benefit increase in 2016, we have been advocating tirelessly for an emergency cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security beneficiaries. Two bills that are now before Congress – the Seniors Deserve a Raise Act (H.R. 3761) and the SAVE Benefits Act (S. 2251, H.R. 4012) – would provide benefit increases of 2.9 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively. In the months ahead we will continue to encourage lawmakers to sign these bills into law because retired and disabled Americans need relief this year. .The alternative to this approach is control by a board of unelected bureaucrats known as the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). This board will consist of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats empowered to make decisions about what kind of care people on Medicare can receive. I am greatly concerned that this board is being given way too much authority to determine what benefits are covered and how much physicians are paid. This commission's sole intention will be to determine whether Medicare is spending more than is budgeted and, if so, to offer "fixes" to cut back on Medicare spending that would then be fast-tracked with very little opportunity for Congressional input. President Obama's former Budget Director Peter Orszag called IPAB "the single biggest yielding of power to an independent entity since the creation of the federal reserve." I believe the best way to control costs in Medicare is to increase choice and competition, not cede control of health care decisions to a board of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats. .The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has estimated that it improperly paid .1 billion to Medicare Advantage plans in 2013 alone. Yet the plans are rarely forced to repay the money they have overcharged, or face closer government scrutiny after the audits, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO report said that CMS has failed to target health plans with "known improper payment risk", allowing the worst abusers to avoid scrutiny. ."Guest Worker" Immigration Reform Would Give Access to Social Security .Improving the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). According to TSCL's research, Social Security benefits have lost over 30 percent of their buying power since 2000 due in large part to inadequate COLAs and rising health care costs. The bipartisan Fair COLA for Seniors Act (H.R. 1553) would improve the annual COLA by adopting the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), which more adequately measures the inflation seniors experience. .Congressman Elijah Cummings (MD-7), Ranking Member of the Committee, agreed, saying: "Drug company executives are lining their pockets at the expense of some of the most vulnerable families in our nation … [People in my district] struggle every single month to pay the increasing cost of housing, education, and health care. They live from paycheck to paycheck and sometimes from no check to no check." He went on to promote his bill, the Prescription Drug Affordability Act, which would take several steps to ensure more affordable prescription drugs, including greater price transparency. .Lawmakers from both the House and Senate remained in their home states and districts for the last week of the month-long August recess. They are expected to return to Washington on September 5th, where they will face many important challenges including lifting the debt ceiling and passing a spending bill to continue funding the government. .Democrats have delayed the start of the program in part because of its cost and an agreement to limit the overall spending in the Biden budget bill to .5 trillion. There is some talk on Capitol Hill of offering seniors limited vouchers to use toward dental benefits before 2028 as a compromise. .What do you think? Should health and drug plans be responsible for removing illegals from Medicare rolls? Take a poll on the TSCL homepage today!