Despite all the tragedy and difficulty coming out of the pandemic emergency there is a little good news, in our opinion. The spread of the coronavirus has reignited the push in Congress to expand domestic manufacturing of drugs, and renewed concerns the U.S. relies too much on foreign medicine makers. As we have been seeing, the need for medications can be urgent during a pandemic and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have raised alarms about possible shortages. .TSCL is relieved that Members of Congress came to an agreement this week, since another government shutdown like last year's would have severely affected Social Security and Medicare benefits for seniors. However, lawmakers will need to revisit the spending debate in ten short weeks since the temporary bill expires on December 11th. TSCL will continue to monitor the discussions in the meantime, and we will post updates here in the Legislative News section of our website. .The House-passed bill eliminates the medical expense deduction, which approximately 5 million taxpayers over the age of sixty-five rely upon when their out-of-pocket medical costs total more than 10 percent of their annual income. The elimination of this deduction would be a catastrophic financial loss for those who find themselves in need of costly in-home or nursing home care. Congressman Kevin Brady (TX-8) – the chairman of the bicameral conference committee – said this week that he hopes to keep the deduction in place, but discussions remain up in the air. .Easier Said Than Done: Public Unconvinced That Medicaid Spending Should Be Cut .However, others at Tuesday's hearing focused on the skyrocketing prescription drug costs for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. In his opening statement, Ranking Member Ron Wyden (OR) said, "The fact is, seniors are getting pounded by drug costs. And in my view, there is an enormous amount of work that has to be done to guarantee that seniors have affordable access to the medications they need." .Finally, two new cosponsors – Senator John Hoeven (ND) and Senator Angus King (ME) – signed on to the Concentrating on High-Value Alzheimer's Needs to Get to an End (CHANGE) Act (S. 2387). The cosponsor total is now up to twelve. If adopted, the bill would direct the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to create programs that would promote early identification, improve support for family caregivers, and provide continuous care for those battling many forms of dementia. .Congressional leaders have already given up on the idea of fully funding the government for the entire 2022 fiscal year and instead the current plan is to pass a "continuing resolution" (CR) that will fund the government at current levels until December The idea is to give them more time to craft the legislation needed to fully fund the new fiscal year. .In the past five years the annual adjustment has averaged just 1.4 percent — less than half the 3 percent average of the prior two decades starting in 1990. Retirees and disabled Social Security recipients are reporting that the COLA is doing a poor job of what it's intended to do — protecting the buying power of their Social Security benefits. According to an annual survey performed by TSCL, Social Security benefits have lost 31 percent of their buying power since 2000. ."Reducing the cost of prescription drugs is essential for both Medicare beneficiaries and Medicare's finances," says Mary Johnson, a Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). The average monthly Social Security retiree benefit is just ,552, while spending on prescription drugs is the fastest growing cost that most retirees face in retirement," she says. Over time, drug costs take a growing portion of Social Security income, because prices are rising several times faster than annual cost of living adjustments (COLAs).