Do not engage with these calls or provide any personal information! If you get such a call or any call demanding your Social Security or bank account number, hang up. Don't respond to any recorded message. If you tend to get such calls, consider setting your phone up to allow an answering machine or voice mail to record or prescreen your calls. .Recent vaccines targeting more limited populations, such as a meningitis B vaccine for college students and the shingles vaccine for older adults, have a retail cost of 0 to 0 for a full course. .Estimate healthcare cost increases of at least 7% to 10% a year. Recently there has been news of a slowdown in healthcare costs. While that's good, overall Medicare costs still increased about 6 percent and in the past two decades the rate of increase was often about 10 percent per year. To keep a lid on your costs, make sure you compare health and drug plans annually during the Medicare Open Enrollment period that starts October 15th and ends December 7th every year. Switch when you can find a better plan. .According to the report, CMS has not expanded the recovery audit program to Medicare Advantage by the end of 2010 as was required by the Patient Protection Act. Recovery audits have been used for years in other Medicare programs to recover improper payments. TSCL believes Congress must provide stronger oversight to ensure that scarce Medicare dollars are spent appropriately and to prevent private insurers from boosting profits by gauging both taxpayers and older Americans. .Too many doctors are prescribing large quantities of narcotics and addictive drugs that may be finding their way onto the streets, or putting patients at risk of addiction. The doctors, in turn, are accepting kickbacks and other "incentives" while billing Medicare for the cost. The following are just three of the examples from a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General: .Action on Capitol Hill was slow this week as Members of the House returned to their districts for a week-long recess, and most Members of the Senate kept their focus on a transportation bill and a series of judicial nominations. However, on Thursday, four Senators unveiled a drastic plan to phase out Medicare. .Here are some ways to trim the cost of visits to the vet: .Every day approximately ten thousand people reach their retirement age. Many have spent a lifetime working to care for their families and save for retirement all while paying federal taxes. The taxes paid into Social Security and Medicare have helped make these programs successful for past generations of retirees. .With about 1 million supporters, The Senior Citizens League is one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. Located just outside Washington, D.C., its mission is to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights and freedoms as U.S. Citizens, and to protect and defend the benefits senior citizens have earned and paid for. The Senior Citizens League is a proud affiliate of TREA The Enlisted Association. Please visi more at or call 1-800-333-8725 for more information.