First, re-shop your Medicare prescription drug coverage every fall during Open Enrollment season -- and the same goes for Medicare Advantage if you're in one of these plans. Insurance companies often change their offerings year-to-year in ways that can increase drug costs by hundreds of dollars, or make it more difficult to get certain drugs. At the same time, your drug needs may have changed since the last plan selection period in ways that make a plan less beneficial for you. .In a statement that was released shortly after the bill's introduction, Sen. Blumenthal stated, "The seniors who spent a lifetime working to make our country stronger deserve peace of mind that their retirement years will not be marked by suffering." TSCL could not agree more, and we look forward to working with Sen. Blumenthal and Rep. Cartwright in the coming months to help build support for their bill, and to help pass it into law. .Because you are over 65, you are subject to Medicare's Special Enrollment Period rules that apply to the loss of health insurance coverage through you or your spouse's former employer. You need to enroll in Medicare Part B during the 8-month period that begins the month after your husband's employment ends or the employer health coverage ends, whichever happens first. Coverage under COBRA, however, would NOT be more than a temporary option for you because you would NOT be eligible for a Special Enrollment Period when that coverage ends, so don't wait to enroll in Medicare. You have 8 months to sign up for Part B and Part D without penalty, starting after the loss of your husband's job. .Surveys by The Senior Citizens League find that older voters are strongly opposed to proposals that would cut benefits. For example, 73 percent support raising the amount of wages subject to Social Security payroll taxes by applying the full 12.4% payroll tax to wages above the taxable maximum —8,700 in 201Currently the highest earners — some 18 percent of all workers, pay no Social Security taxes on wages over the 8,700 maximum — that includes Members of Congress who receive an annual salary 4,000. Surveys have also found 90 percent strongly support allowing Medicare to negotiate drug costs. .Among the bills that make up the GOP plan is one that would establish congressional review boards to examine the long-term solvency of the three trust funds, a topic that long has been politically fraught. .Specialists are already warning that under the new "quality initiatives" some patients may have difficulty finding services under the new system as doctors join larger practices or stop accepting patients. As doctors reorganize and move into new HMO - like Accountable Care Organizations, all sorts of new questions are coming up. Does this payment system create an incentive to send unprofitably sick patients with complicated conditions elsewhere for care? How will the government measure quality, and what evidence will the Administration use to determine successful doctor performance? .House Democrats also Unveil Proposals to Lower Drug Prices .For information about town hall meetings near you in the final days of the week-long recess, call the local offices of your elected officials. You can find contact information for your Members of Congress right here. .A few weeks after a 90-year old woman was moved into an assisted living facility, her daughter was surprised to be told that her mother was a good candidate for hospice. The move to assisted living was only intended for help with her mother's daily care, and her. Another Banner Year For Medicare Fraud? , editor