Rather than get into all the details of how this works, we will simplify it this way. The Democrats now have the majority in the Senate because Vice President Harris can break tie votes, giving a majority vote of 51 to the Democrats. .To cover the cost of CPI-E Act's adoption and to improve the solvency of the Social Security program, The Senior Citizens League supports an increase in the payroll tax cap. Nearly 75 percent of our supporters agree that the wealthiest Americans must begin contributing to the program more fairly, based on the results of our 2018 Senior Survey. Several bills now before Congress would increase or eliminate the payroll tax cap, and The Senior Citizens League will continue to advocate for their passage tirelessly in the months ahead. .In addition, one new cosponsor signed on to the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act (H.R. 2575), bringing the total up to eighteen. The new cosponsor is Representative Seth Moulton (MA-6). If signed into law, the BENES Act would simplify the Medicare enrollment process and better inform those approaching Medicare eligibility about their future benefits and the application process. .Analysts are warning about potential drug shortages, but there is a system for checking whether there really is a shortage, using reported shortage tools on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website. You can look up current drug shortages at :https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/drugshortages/dsp_SearchResults.cfm .Should I Continue to Pay Into Social Security for Other Work I am Doing Now? .The petitions that poured into Congressional offices this spring urged each Representative and Senator to support key bills like the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E) Act, the Social Security Fairness Act, and the Notch Fairness Act, each of which would go a long way in protecting the earned benefits of seniors. The petitions also protested issues that our members feel strongly about, like amnesty for illegal immigrants and the pending Social Security Totalization Agreement with Mexico. .Second, in October, Congress passed legislation to strengthen Social Security's Disability Insurance (DI) program. Many of the recommendations that TSCL made to the House Ways and Means Committee back in August were signed into law, including provisions that will ramp up fraud prevention and test new work incentives for beneficiaries. Most importantly, the law prevents a 20 percent benefit cut that was scheduled to hit 11 million disabled beneficiaries in December 201A cut of that size would have been truly devastating for enrollees, and TSCL applauds Members of Congress for averting it. .TSCL encourages its members and supporters to attend these events and to ask questions of their elected officials about important Social Security and Medicare issues, like the following four… .TSCL has serious concerns about several of the provisions in the AHCA, including the tax cut that would endanger the Medicare program. As discussions continue to advance the bill, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) will continue to monitor them, and we will advocate on Capitol Hill for policies that would protect the Medicare Trust Fund while reducing out-of-pocket costs for older Americans. For progress updates, follow TSCL on Facebook or Twitter.