With reconciliation, Democrats can pass a bill without any Republican votes so they are hoping to get a much more comprehensive bill than the Grassley-Wyden one. .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. .For more information on town hall meetings near you during the August recess, click HERE. For more sample town hall questions, read this month's Legislative Update HERE. .Use call block technology. If you have a smart phone, you can block calls from unknown numbers. Some land line phones also have similar technology. .Before the Affordable Care Act, seniors could deduct out-of-pocket medical costs that exceeded 7.5 percent of their Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). Starting in 2017, however, the law increases this threshold to 10% of a person's AGI – effectively lowering how much can be deducted at the end of the year and increasing how much seniors will pay in taxes. .On Wednesday, Members of the House voted to approve a temporary Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government past September 30th – the end of the fiscal year. Those in the Senate took it up quickly thereafter and voted for its passage on Thursday afternoon, despite reservations from some key Senators. .This week, TSCL endorsed new legislation from Congressman John Duncan, Jr. (TN-2) that would result in a more fair and adequate Social Security COLA. The bipartisan bill, called the Consumer Price Index (CPI) For Seniors Act (H.R. 2016), would require the Bureau of Labor Statistics to create and publish a new inflation index based solely on the spending patterns of senior citizens. .The Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced a bold new model to save money and improve healthcare quality by changing the way the government pays doctors. The Administration is taking steps to ensure that, by 2018, up to half of all payments to doctors won't be for visits and procedures, but rather for providing "high quality" care. The plan is to pay doctors on how they perform. .America's immigration policy may make a dramatic shift in the coming months. According to press reports, the new Congressional leadership may push for an immigration plan that grants amnesty to illegal immigrants residing in the U.S., and America's senior citizens are paying close attention.