Second, four new cosponsors signed on to the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 141), bringing the total up to 16The new cosponsors are Representatives Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Bradley Byrne (AL-1), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-2), and Josh Harder (CA-10). This bipartisan bill, if adopted, would make the Social Security program more equitable by repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). These two provisions of law unfairly cut the Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, police officers, and other state or local government employees, often by 40 percent or more. By repealing both provisions, the Social Security Fairness Act would ensure that public servants receive the Social Security benefits they have earned and deserve. .False and invalid Social Security numbers SSNs are supplied to employers virtually without any serious or immediate consequence. Illegal immigrants work using numbers belonging to another person, numbers that have been made up, by using "non-work" SSNs. Employers report the wages using these numbers or in some cases where no number exists, file the reports using a series of zeros in the SSN box (000-00-000).(7) In addition, immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally may work under one or more aliases. The unauthorized wages earned and reported under invalid SSNs represent a rapidly growing future benefit liability should Congress enact immigration reform that gives work authorization to immigrants working in this country illegally today. .Two Bills Gain New Cosponsors .(Photo: iStockphoto) .This week, The Senior Citizens League released its final estimate for the 2019 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), and four key bills gained support in Congress. ."The Congressional Budget Office said in 2019 that the bill would likely hamper some pharmaceutical development due to lower ‘potential global revenues' but predicted that ‘the effects of the new drug introductions from increased federal spending under the bill on biomedical research would be modest and would almost all occur more than 20 years in the future.' On the other hand, it estimated that the bill would save more than 0 billion in drug spending over the next decade." .However, if you live in a group setting (like a correctional or detention facility or group home) and are around someone who has COVID-19, you should still stay away from others for 14 days and get tested, even if you do not have symptoms. .Social Security recipients, on the other hand, wouldn't have received anything during that period because the price inflation, as measured by the government's Consumer Price Index for Workers (CPI-W), fell and was not high enough for a COLA to be payable at all until January of this year. The projected Congressional COLA for 2013 is 1.1% and that would equal an extra ,900 if it takes effect, resulting in an annual salary of 5,900. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently projected that seniors would receive a 1.3% COLA in 201If the CBO is correct, the COLA would only raise average annual Social Security benefits about 9, from ,200 in 2012 to ,389 in 201There's a widespread misconception that Members of Congress don't pay into Social Security. That's not true. They do — but not on all of their salary. .Out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs was the fastest rising expense of retirees from 2000 to 2019, according to a recent study of retiree costs by TSCL. While the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increased Social Security benefits by 50 percent over the period, out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs rose more than five times faster — 253%.