COLA cuts: Use the "chained" Consumer Price Index (CPI) to calculate annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). Supporters say that the difference would be small, reducing the COLA about .3 tenths of a percentage point per year. But TSCL estimates this "small" change would cost retirees, with average benefits of ,170 in 2011, some ,223 over a 25-year retirement. .Graves can't understand why the pricing is going unchecked by the federal government. "This needs to be investigated," she says. "People who don't have good Part D coverage or the money to pay for their drugs would be forced to go without," she protests. "It's GREED, GREED, GREED!" .The proposed funding increase into Medicaid's Home and Community Based Services program has two goals: reducing waiting lists for support for older and disabled Americans who want to stay in their homes rather than go into assisted living facilities or other institutions, and raising pay for home health care's largely female, minority workforce. .How Much Would Delaying Retirement After Full Retirement Age Increase My Benefit? .Source: Fiscal Year 2010 Inspector General Statement, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, November 2010. .TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 4704, H.R. 4841, and H.R. 2212, and we will continue to advocate for their passage in the months ahead. For more information, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. .Each year, due to a faulty formula that's used to determine Medicare's reimbursement rates, doctors are threatened with sizable pay cuts. This year, if Congress fails to act, doctors will face a 25 percent cut. Lawmakers consistently override scheduled pay cuts with temporary "fixes," but many doctors have grown tired of the ritual and have stopped treating Medicare patients. The estimated cost of repealing the formula has recently dropped dramatically, and many are hoping to replace it in the coming months. Doing so would provide much-needed stability for Medicare beneficiaries. .The Senior Citizens League regularly tracks and estimates the projected annual COLA increase with the release of monthly consumer price index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Inflation data through August are confirming that the COLA will be in the vicinity of 0.2%, forecast by the Social Security Trustees, and that would trigger the "hold harmless" provision," Gibbons says. .Thousands of The Senior Citizens League's supporters – including the 800 petition signers – have told us they are failing to keep up with rising costs, and they are forced every day to make tough decisions about how they will spend their Social Security checks. To address this growing issue, The Senior Citizens League and its supporters urge Congress to adopt the Social Security Expansion Act (S. 427) before the end of the 115th Congress.