Which is right for you? Medigap policies tend to have have higher premiums, but pay most of your out-of-pocket costs, so your costs stay more consistent and predictable. You are also free to use any healthcare provider that accepts Medicare. If you choose Medigap you will also need to enroll in a separate Part D prescription drug plan. Medicare Advantage plans tend to have lower premiums and include drug coverage, but you will have deductibles, as well as co-pays and cost sharing for most services. Hospitalizations could be costly. Many Medicare Advantage plans are managed care and require that you use participating providers to receive reimbursement for your care. .Nursing homes not being checked .Legislation to allow the importation of less-costly FDA-approved prescription drugs from Canada and other nations is still pending in Congress, and TSCL continues to work for enactment. Seniors like you and your wife who order prescription drugs by mail from Canada faced a particularly tough decision about Medicare Part D. Either you enroll in a Part D plan and quite likely pay more than you do now, or don't enroll and face the risk of paying a steep penalty if you change their mind and sign up after the May 15 deadline. .If the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) were based on a more accurate measure of inflation for seniors, beneficiaries would not be receiving a record-low 0.3% increase this year. They would be receiving an increase of 2.1% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Do you support legislation that would base the COLA on a more accurate inflation index like the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly? .It would permanently set the Social Security Administration's administrative funding at 1.5 percent of overall benefit payments, more than doubling the funding that the administration currently receives. .It is anticipated that one of the orders will be to shift drug and medical production to this country by suddenly cutting off federal agencies from those offshore supply chains. .If he proceeds, Trump would force drug companies to accept lower payments from Medicare for treatments administered in doctors' offices. The rule would apply to certain drugs bought by the "Part B" section of Medicare. .A new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says that undocumented immigrants who receive work authorization are eligible to receive Social Security and Medicare benefits on the basis of their work history. Under current law there's no citizenship requirement to receive benefits, but individuals must be lawfully present in the U.S. That will mean higher spending on Social Security and Medicare in the future, the CBO said. While the CBO said new payroll taxes would boost Social Security and Medicare's financial condition in the short term, in the long term federal spending would increase significantly as those people became eligible for benefits. .A number of vaccines, including those for flu and pneumonia, might be capable of improving immunity overall, according to one researcher. Scientists are looking at several other potential candidates, including vaccines against herpes viruses and tuberculosis.