According to the Center for Public Integrity, one of the nation's oldest nonpartisan investigative news services, home visits have risen sharply at many Medicare Advantage health plans. While visiting nurses and doctors don't offer any treatment during these visits, they do report exam findings to the patient's primary care doctor. Insurers say the free annual physicals offer a new benefit to help certain health plan enrollees stay fit and in their homes as long as possible. But critics, including some Members of Congress, are concerned the visits may be padding Medicare's bill. .This week TSCL has been focused on two issues we are very concerned about. The first is the payroll tax cut that we told you about last week. As a reminder, President Trump has said he wants a payroll tax cut in the next financial relief legislation Congress develops in response to the coronavirus. TSCL opposes that because it would further damage the financial well-being of the Social Security and Medicare programs. Both programs already need fixing because the lack of financial resources in the coming years may result cutting benefits to seniors. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is among Congressional leaders who have already called for that, although they don't call it cutting benefits, they say there is a need to "reign in the costs" of the programs. .The SNAP Simplification for the Elderly Act will build upon the success of the USDA's Elderly Simplified Application Project by extending the SNAP recertification periods for households from 12 to 36 months if all adult household members are elderly, disabled or enrolled in Medicaid or the Medicare Savings Program. .First, one new cosponsor – Representative Conor Lamb (PA-18) – signed on to the Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 1902), bringing the total up to 17If adopted, H.R. 1902 would strengthen Social Security benefits by improving the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), increasing monthly benefits by 2 percent, creating a new Special Minimum Benefit equal to 125 percent of the poverty line, and providing a tax cut to millions of Social Security beneficiaries. To cover the cost of these changes and to extend the solvency of the program through the year 2100, it would apply the payroll tax to annual income over 0,000 and gradually increase the payroll tax rate by 0.25 percent. .Despite the coronavirus emergency, TSCL is continuing its fight for you to protect your Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits. We have had to make some adjustments in the way we carry on our work, but we have not, and will not stop our work on your behalf. .You may qualify if your yearly income and "resources" or savings are below the following limits in 2017: .Even though I have good insurance, I wound up with ,260 in unexpected out-of-pocket costs after being referred to a specialist who ordered "a few tests." I later learned that most, if not all of the tests I was given were probably unnecessary, and not recommended by the physician groups, based on my medical history. The visit with my specialist lasted only 15 minutes. At check out I learned the doctor had ordered four high-tech tests including a CT scan. No explanation was given about what the doctor was looking for, why the tests were necessary, or how they would help, nor was I given the opportunity to go back and ask the doctor before leaving. Nothing abnormal was found in any one of them. While I'm grateful for that, the stack of bills I received later forced me to tap savings that I was hoping to count on for retirement. ."Brand-name drugs are the primary driver of the higher prescription drug prices in the U.S.," report co-author Andrew Mulcahy said in a press release. .Prevention of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse – Ensure that scarce Medicare and Social Security dollars are spent properly.