Finance Committee Questions HHS Nominee .Alexandria, VA (October 18, 2011) Irene H., a senior living in Central Virginia, will achieve a milestone this fall that few other 86-year olds can boast of. The thrifty senior, who takes three prescription medications every day, including an expensive brand-name eye drop for glaucoma, will cut her prescription drug costs by more than ,000 since 200Her secret? Every year during the fall Medicare Open Enrollment period, Irene learns about the changes in her drug plan for the upcoming year, and then compares all her options for drug coverage. She changes plans when she finds better coverage at a better cost. .In the final weeks of the 111th Congress, TSCL will continue working to prevent cuts to Social Security benefits that are already insufficient for too many of our nation's seniors. .When support for correcting the Notch reached a head, Congress established a 12-member commission to study the Notch and issue a report. No member appointed to the Commission, however, was on record as supporting the correction of the Notch disparity. On the other hand, a number of members, including the chairman, were on record as opposing such action. The Commission issued its report on December 29, 1994, concluding that "benefits paid to those in the Notch years are equitable, and no remedial legislation is in order." .Higher-income beneficiaries. People with modified gross incomes above ,000 (individuals) or 0,000 (couples) in 2017 are required to pay higher Part B premiums. The amount they pay varies depending on income. According to Medicare Trustees, their premium increases will range from to per month. .Traveling through the beautiful farmlands of early primary states, you can find the self-proclaimed champions of socialized medicine amid the flashes of cameras on the campaign trail. If you keep driving through, you'll see the harsh reality beyond presidential candidate photo-ops. You'll see the more than 100 rural hospitals that have closed in the United States since 2010, including two in my district in the last year alone. .TSCL is hopeful that SSA will add additional options for authentication quickly so that Social Security beneficiaries without cellphones can regain access to their online accounts. Congressman Sam Johnson (TX-3) – Chairman of the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee – sent a letter to SSA's Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin on Tuesday requesting swift action. He wrote, "I urge you to take a hard look at this new policy and make the changes necessary to ensure that mySocialSecurity has the right balance between security and access." .If signed into law, H.R. 973 would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) – two federal provisions that unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, firefighters, peace officers, and other state or local government employees each year. .The suit is over Obama's executive actions on immigration announced last November. The executive actions would expand a program that protects immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Another major part of the orders would extend deportation protection and provide work-authorized Social Security numbers to illegal immigrants who are parents of children born in this country and who have lived in this country for some years.