We are raising our 6-year-old grandson under permanent court ordered guardianship to age 1However, we are not allowed an additional Social Security benefit for this child unless we adopt him. Seems unfair since we have the same responsibility to support him. This will create a tremendous financial hardship, should my wife or I pass away and lose our benefit. We feel the rules should be changed to include benefits for permanent guardianships. -B.H. .The U.S. depends on China for thousands of chemicals needed to make prescription drugs. That's because it turns out that pharmaceutical companies have outsourced our generic medicine manufacturing to China. .Ignoring mature worker employment will have long-term effects on American families and our overall economy. During the final years of their careers, mature workers traditionally earn their highest salaries, pay off their mortgages, care for aging parents, put their children through school, take a splurge vacation and save for their retirement. .The Senate Finance Committee recently passed The Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act out of committee and now it heads to the floor for further action. The bill, which has support of both Democrats and Republicans would, among other things, cap drug prices based on the rate of inflation. .Benefit reduction due to your ex-wife's age. — The maximum survivors benefit people can receive is limited to what your ex-spouse would have received if still alive. In 2016 she would have attained age 63, but her benefit would be reduced because she would not have reached her full retirement age, which is 66. .Instead, locality pay increases are intended to keep the salaries of current federal workers competitive with private sector jobs in the same locality pay area. The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures non-federal compensation in a particular market and compares it to federal pay for federal employees who perform similar work in the same region. The gap between the two helps determine the locality pay adjustment for a specific area in a given year. .The flurry of activity in Congress has shared the top of the news this week with the continuing Covid-19 crisis and the beginning of the vaccine distribution program. We try not to repeat news here that is available to everyone who gets their news from TV, radio, newspapers or online, but there are two things that occurred in all the activity that are especially important to seniors. .Action on Capitol Hill was slow this week as Members of Congress remained in their home states and districts to prepare for the November 6th election. They are not expected to return to Capitol Hill until after the Veterans Day holiday, on Tuesday, November 13th. TSCL would like to remind you that many Members of Congress will attend local events or hold town hall meetings in the upcoming weeks, giving voters an excellent opportunity to voice their concerns. We encourage you to approach your Senators and Representatives to request their support for fair cost-of-living adjustments and other key issues. .In 2018 Sally will finally get a COLA of 2% raising her monthly benefit of ,003 by .10 to ,023.However, if Medicare Part B premiums would be 4 per month in 2018 — Sally would need a COLA of .10 to cover the full cost of Part B premiums. Because Sally's benefit only increased .10, the increase in her Part B premium cannot exceed that amount. Thus Sally will continue to receive hold harmless protection and her monthly Medicare Part B premium would be adjusted downwards to 8.00 (7.90 + .10) to avoid reduction of her Social Security benefit.