The TSCL legislative team continues to work diligently to promote the issues affecting our members. While much of this week's success was focused on current bills, our team also strives to stay on top of forth-coming legislation yet to be formally introduced. The work of our committed legislative team enables TSCL to keep capable eyes and ears on Congress' inner-workings to better represent the concerns of our valued members. ."Social Security benefits have flat - lined since 2010," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst and author of TSCL's buying power study. "That was the first time since the annual COLA became automatic that inflation was too low for a COLA to be payable," Johnson notes. Since then, COLAs have averaged just 1.2 percent per year, less than half the 3 percent that COLAs averaged during the decade prior to 2010. .Sources: "Medicare Beneficiaries Sue US Over Hospital Stays," David Morgan, Reuters, November 3, 2011. .This year, we challenged our members to be more vocal than ever about their Social Security and Medicare concerns, and our expectations were surpassed to say the least! Our members signed an unprecedented 1,504,372 petitions, and in April, we boxed them up, trekked to Capitol Hill, and delivered them by hand to the offices of each Representative and Senator in the U.S. Congress. .Will it provide the diagnosis or will more tests be needed? .In the latest issue of Best Ways to Save, retirees, and those nearing retirement learn: .Legislation before the House and Senate would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) so that public servants receive the Social Security benefits they have earned and deserve. Will you cosponsor the Social Security Fairness Act (S. 521, H.R. 141) when you return to Washington? .Last year a premium support plan that passed in the House prompted a firestorm of opposition from seniors and critics concerned that the plan cut federal spending too much — shifting too great a portion of costs -- and would make Medicare unaffordable for beneficiaries. But premium support itself is nothing new, nor would it "end Medicare as we know it." To the contrary, seniors already know it, and like it. Medicare operates two premium support programs — Medicare Part D, and Medicare Advantage. .At Wednesday's hearing, key witnesses made several recommendations for improving the process. Sita Nataraj Slavov – Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University – suggested that SSA stop using the term "retirement age" since it suggests that individuals should claim benefits immediately after they stop working. She also recommended that SSA begin referring to age 70 as the "full" retirement age since it is the age at which benefits are the highest. In addition, William Meyer of Social Security Solutions, Inc. suggested that SSA notify individuals of the annual difference in benefits they would receive if they delayed filing for one year.