If the Social Security COLA were based on a more accurate measure of inflation for senior citizens, next year's increase would not be 0.3 percent – it would be 2.1 percent 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? .I worked in a California city police department for 30 years and I'm now entitled to a pension. For the past 8 years, I've also paid into Social Security for self-employment earnings from a small company that I own. My accountant tells me that, in order to qualify for Social Security benefits, I should continue to work at my company and send in in two more years' worth of taxes. Will this be worth it? .Yet here we are today facing another failure to pass legislation on time, which has happened year after year under McConnell. .All of that raises questions about whether Democrats have enough votes to advance H.R. 3 out of the House, but in any case, it's highly unlikely that the bill could get the 60 votes necessary to defeat a filibuster in the Senate. .Recently a group of Medicare patients and their families sued the Obama Administration, saying they were deprived of coverage because the policy allows hospitals to avoid admitting seniors with chronic ailments as inpatients. The plaintiffs charged that the observation services policy, which is intended to apply to short stays of no more than 24 to 48 hours, is instead being used to keep Medicare patients on outpatient status for longer stays, including some lasting up to a week. As a result, the seniors incurred medical charges as high as ,000 for skilled nursing care, drugs and other costs that Medicare Part B does not cover. Inpatient stays are covered under Medicare Part A, and all of ,156 deductible and most, if not all, of the co-insurance is covered by Medigap supplements. .TSCL is deeply concerned about the prospect of cuts to benefits and COLAs. Seniors can ill afford any reduction in benefits once they have already retired and are depending on them for their daily expenses. We urge you to learn how Congressional candidates stand on changes to Social Security and Medicare. To learn whether your U.S. Representative or Senators support legislation of interest to you, visit the TSCL website at or call toll free 1-800-333-8725. .For years, the age at which an individual could receive full, unreduced Social Security benefits was 6Since the passage of the 1983 amendments to the Social Security Act, the age has increased very gradually. The current full retirement age is 66 and it is slowly rising to 67 for people born after 195Benefits can be claimed as early as 62; however, doing so will result in a reduced benefit. For example, if someone was born in 1945 and claimed benefits at 62, their benefits were reduced by 25%. If someone who is born after 1959 collects benefits at 62, their benefits will be reduced by 30%. Some economists have proposed increasing the early retirement age, currently age 62, as well as the full retirement age. .The Senior Citizens League enthusiastically supports the Audiology Patient Choice Act and the Social Security Fairness Act, and we were pleased to see support grow for them this week. For more information about these and other TSCL-backed bills, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. .By Jarrad Hensley, TSCL Legislative Assistant