You may qualify if your yearly income and "resources" or savings are below the following limits in 2017: .To avoid significant cost increases and unexpected benefit cuts next year, TSCL encourages its members and supporters to examine all MA plan offerings closely before making a selection or allowing a plan to automatically renew. The open enrollment period ends on December 7th, and coverage begins on January 1st. In the meantime, TSCL will continue to monitor the status of the MA program and advocate for legislation like the Medicare Advantage Participant Bill of Rights Act, which would protect MA enrollees from unfair and abrupt changes to physician networks. .You should still watch out for symptoms of COVID-19, especially if you've been around someone who is sick. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should get tested and stay home and away from others. .By Mike Watson, TSCL Legislative Assistant .With 1.2 million supporters, The Senior Citizens League is one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. Its mission is to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights an .As a representative of thousands of senior citizens in Western Pennsylvania, and as a senior myself, I strongly believe that all Americans should be able to enjoy their golden years without financial or medical hardship. Retirement should be a time of great reward and good health, not unnecessary anxiety. As a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, it has been a priority of mine to work on policies that protect Social Security and ensure its long-term viability for all Americans who have paid into the system. Over the past several years, I have proudly worked with fellow legislators on both sides of the aisle to craft specific policy solutions that will benefit seniors everywhere. .According to a recent survey by The Senior Citizens League, 74 percent of survey participants favor applying the 12.4% Social Security payroll tax to all earnings. To learn more, visit . .Proxy voting allows a member of the House to give to another member the right to cast a vote on his or her behalf. The member authorizing the proxy will stipulate how the vote should be cast and the member casting the proxy vote is required to abide by the wishes of the member granting the proxy. .Once the costs that both you and your drug plan have paid exceed the above limit, then you will pay 25% co-insurance for brand drugs in 2019, and your drug plan will pay 5%. There's a manufacturer discount of 70%. For generics, you will pay 37% and plans pay 63%. This phase of coverage — which is called the "doughnut hole" or coverage gap —lasts until you have a spent a total of ,100 out-of-pocket on prescription costs. Please note that what you pay in premiums does not count toward out-of-pocket costs. Once you have spent ,100, which counts the manufacturer discount portion of the drug cost in the doughnut hole, then you reach the Part D catastrophic threshold. Medicare pays 80%, plans pay 15% and enrollees pay the greater of either 5% of total drug costs or .40/.50 for each generic/brand-name drug respectively.