"Congressional Pay Grows 15 Times Faster Than Social Security Checks" .Most people who spend the night in the hospital would say they have been an inpatient. But over the past six years, rapidly growing numbers of Medicare beneficiaries have learned that they were never admitted as an inpatient — even though they have stayed in a hospital bed, received treatment, diagnostic tests, and drugs. .Medical Care (prescription drugs and medical supplies, physicians' services, eyeglasses and eye care, hospital services) .In setting prices, drug makers rarely acknowledge the considerable federal funding and research that have helped develop their products; they have not offered taxpayer-investors financial payback. .Now more than ever, we must fight to ensure that when older Americans retire they can look forward to a stable economic future and reliable, high-quality healthcare. During the devastating economic recession, older Americans saw their hard-earned savings dwindle, lost millions in diminished pension funds, and were laid off just a few years before retirement. Now, Congress must work past partisan gridlock to support seniors. During my time in Congress, I've fought for seniors by reaching across the aisle to protect landmark programs like Medicare and Social Security and introduced commonsense legislation that will strengthen the financial security of older Americans. .One of TSCL's goals this year was to end "surprise billing" – the situation that happens when some types of medical providers, including anesthesiologists, radiologists, pathologists, and labs may not be contracted with your health insurer even though they provide services at a hospital or facility that is in your health plan's provider network. So, in addition to your expected out-of-pocket costs, you also get a bill for the difference between what your insurer has agreed to pay that provider and the amount the provider billed for their services. .Last year, prescription drug prices grew by 12% nationwide. A rate that high hasn't occurred since 200What do you believe should be done to manage the growing cost increases of prescription drugs? .Medicare expects to start mailing cards in May of 2018, but be patient. The cards are going out on a "rolling basis" to different states over the next 9 months (see the chart at the end of this article.) To learn when new Medicare cards start mailing to your area, sign up for e-alerts from Medicare by visiting Medicare.gov/NewCard. .Some issues of controversy inevitably arose at Thursday's hearing, but common ground was also found on the important issue of corporate tax reform. The Joint Committee, which must hold a vote on its final proposal before Thanksgiving, will likely hold a third public hearing in the coming weeks. TSCL will continue to monitor its progress.