In 1988, a report by the former U. S. General Accounting Office, now the Government Accountability Office (GAO), cited an example of two sisters who started working at the same book bindery, on the same day, in October 195Audrey was born in March 1916, and Edith in June of 191The two had almost identical lifetime earnings. The younger sister Edith (born 1917) received a monthly benefit of 2.60, 1.80 less than her older sister Audrey (born 1916), who received 4.40 per month. .Last Friday, MedPAC released its most recent report to Congress, and on Wednesday, Mike Miller – MedPAC's Executive Director – testified before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health. At the hearing, he focused on the report's key recommendations, which include maintaining bonus payments for primary care physicians who treat Medicare patients, and increasing financial assistance for low-income beneficiaries. .Senior housing experts say they frequently hear clients say they want to live in their own homes. But over time, it can become a great burden, especially when people don't have family that lives close by. Health and physical changes can make it difficult to climb stairs, keep the home clean, and keep up with paying bills. There may be a growing need for help with simple chores like driving to the pharmacy or grocery store. Home maintenance and repairs can even become a source of exploitation from unscrupulous vendors. .The annual COLA increased Social Security benefits in January of 2021 by just 1.3 percent. While the lack of inflation in 2020 did somewhat improve the buying power of Social Security benefits by 2 percentage points by the month of January 2021 — from a loss in buying power of 30 percent to a loss of 28 percent — that improvement was completely wiped out by soaring inflation in February and March of this year. .Economic recession isn't entirely to blame for low inflation. For more than three decades the federal government has made a substantial number of changes to the methodology it uses to calculate the consumer price index, which is used to determine the COLA. "Virtually all the changes have tended to reduce the measured rate of inflation," Cates says. "Not surprisingly, many COLA recipients sometimes tell us they suspect the government is manipulating the inflation measure to cut spending on their benefits," he adds. .We want to begin this week's update by reminding you to seriously consider seeing your health care provider if you have been putting it off because of the pandemic. That is especially true if you have a serious health condition and you need treatment or close monitoring. .The explosive cost of specialty drugs, that offer major treatment advances for people with life-threatening diseases, is not only threatening access to these treatments, but threatens to drain retirement savings, and leave widows and widowers in poverty after the death of a spouse. Unlike Medicare Advantage plans, and health insurance plans covering working-age adults, Medicare Part D has no annual out-of-pocket maximum to protect people with the highest drug costs. .The COLA also doesn't reflect cost increases in Medicare premiums and other rapidly growing Medicare costs. Research for The Senior Citizens League has found that Medicare Part B premiums are one of the fastest growing costs in retirement. Medicare Part B premiums, which are automatically deducted from Social Security checks, often consume most, or even all, of the COLA increase. .Premiums and coverage details can vary enormously, but here are a few things to consider: