Thus, if you need to replace lost income right away, and you don't have a lot of savings or other resources to finance a waiting period for benefits, your husband may be better off simply filing a claim now for Social Security retirement benefits. While those benefits would be reduced due to starting benefits prior to his full retirement age, the application process is straightforward and can be accomplished easily online. Benefits could be started on the effective date you choose. .TSCL enthusiastically supports the Credit for Caring Act, the Social Security Fairness Act, and the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act, and we were pleased to see support grow for each one this week. To receive frequent progress updates on these and other Social Security, Medicare, and family caregiving bills, follow TSCL on Twitter. .The President ordered a payroll tax deferral, not a cut, meaning the taxes will not be collected for a while but they will still be due at a later date. However, some observers have suggested that rather than give employees the additional money and then try to collect it back from them at the end of the year, employers will simply hold onto the money so that the employees would never see it in their paychecks. .Resource: Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers, A retirement and aging roadmap for single and childless adults, Sara Zeff Geber, PhD .The uncertainty of Senate passage of the new legislation to waive the cuts to Medicare comes about because of the 2010 Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act, which requires across-the-board cuts, known as sequestration, to "mandatory" programs if any new legislation increases the deficit. .In June, the Medicare trustees estimated that Part B premiums will rise only .50 in 2019, from 4 to 5.50. However, according to a recent survey conducted by The Senior Citizens League, roughly 25 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries are currently paying less than 4 per month due to a special "hold harmless" provision of law. Their Part B premium hikes will be much larger than .50, offsetting a larger portion of the 2019 COLA. .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. .The credit will include children who turn age 17 or who are under that age in 2021. .In the Senate, Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (IA) has also prioritized this critical issue. His first hearing as chairman was titled "Drug Pricing in AmericA Prescription for Change" and, in his opening statement, he vowed to get to the bottom of the growing problem. Following that hearing in January, Chairman Grassley called upon seven of the most profitable pharmaceutical companies to testify before the committee, saying: "Patients and taxpayers deserve to hear from leaders in the industry about what's behind this unsustainable trend."