I'm helping my mother shop for an assisted living facility. She's considering one within reasonable driving distance, but a clause in the paperwork stipulates that she must agree to mandatory arbitration to settle any disputes. Can you explain the pros and cons of this? .Eighty percent of the nation's active pharmaceutical ingredients come from overseas — and China is its No. 2 supplier, behind only Canada. .In Virginia the law reduced unemployment benefits by half of a person's Social Security check. For example, someone who received ,000 per month in Social Security lost 0, or 5 from each weekly unemployment check. Social Security recipients were rightfully outraged and successfully lobbied the Virginia legislature for repeal of the unemployment "offset" rule. That repeal is now effective in Virginia and numerous other states. Check with your state unemployment commission to learn how Social Security might affect your unemployment benefits. .In normal political times neither party would allow Medicare to be cut. But because of our current highly partisan times, it would require ten Republicans to join with Democrats to stop the cuts to Medicare with new legislation if reconciliation were used. .Senate Committee Discusses Drug Costs .That spells trouble for people living on fixed incomes. "When COLAs fall down on the job of protecting benefit buying power, seniors face working longer, digging deeper into retirement savings, or falling into debt and poverty," says Ed Cates, Chairman of TSCL. .Living on a Social Security budget can make gift-giving tough. Here are five thoughtful ideas for do-it-yourself gifts that will make the season merrier for all: .The Earnings Suspense File represents a huge growing potential liability to the Social Security program. Currently the file holds more than 295.5 million wage reports worth more than 5 billion. Wages are used to determine entitlement to Social Security benefits. Under current law when a worker is found eligible for Social Security, all earnings that can be proven are used to determine entitlement, even for jobs worked without legal authorization. .The second bill is H.R. 1215, which would establish an office within the Federal Trade Commission and an outside advisory group to prevent fraud targeting seniors and to direct the Commission to include additional information in an annual report to Congress on fraud targeting seniors.