TSCL's Board of Trustees Meets with Members of Congress .The legislation fully covers the cost of providing the emergency payments by closing corporate compensation loopholes, which provide enormous tax breaks for the CEO of the nation's top corporations. By closing the loophole, the bill also would add substantial new revenue to Social Security extending the solvency of both the retirement and disability insurance trust funds. .August Recess Continues .Last July 24 President Trump announced his intention to sign four executive orders regarding prescription drugs, including one that would tie the cost of drugs in the US to drug prices in other countries. At the same time, he said he would delay signing the order and give pharmaceutical companies, which have vigorously opposed such a move, time to come up with their own plan to lower drug prices. .Our legislative team was pleased to see the Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act advance out of the Ways and Means Committee this week, and we will be sure to monitor its progress as it moves to the House floor. Leaders expect it to be taken up during the week of June 15th, and it is expected to pass there with bipartisan support as well. For updates on the status of H.R. 1190, visit the Legislative News section of our website. .We are covering this study again because according to an article on BenefitsPro.com, "The study is part of a growing body of evidence that cost-sharing, designed to encourage consumers to make smarter choices when shopping for health care, is not achieving that goal. Both anecdotal and statistical data suggest that health care, as it exists today in the U.S, is simply too complicated and opaque for Americans to approach as a simple consumer product." .The House of Representatives has outlined specific reforms that maintain the current Medicare program for those aged 55 and older with no disruption and saves Medicare for future seniors by offering those beneficiaries a premium support program. Specifically for younger workers, when they reach eligibility, Medicare will provide a payment and a list of guaranteed coverage options – including a traditional fee-for-service option from which recipients can choose a plan that best suits their needs. These future Medicare beneficiaries will be able to choose a plan the same way members of Congress do. Medicare will also provide additional assistance for lower-income beneficiaries and those with greater health care needs. Our plan also stops the raid on Medicare trust fund that was going to pay for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, allowing any current Medicare savings to go directly to saving Medicare and not creating open-ended health entitlements. .The Social Security hold harmless provision prevents reductions in net Social Security benefits, when the dollar amount of an individual's Medicare Part B increase is greater than the dollar amount of their COLA. In 2019, Barbara may finally see a small boost of about per month after the deduction for her Part B premiums. .Eleven new cosponsors signed on to the Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures (PRIME) Act (S. 1123 and H.R. 2305) this week, bringing the total up to twenty in the Senate and thirty in the House. If signed into law, the comprehensive bill would take a number of steps to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse within the two programs – a problem that TSCL believes must be addressed in order to ensure that scarce program dollars are being spent properly. The new cosponsors are: Sen. John Boozman (AR), and Reps. Duncan Hunter (CA-50), Steve Stivers (OH-15), Dan Benishek (MI-1), Martha Roby (AL-2), Dennis Ross (FL-15), Thomas Rooney (FL-17), Shelley Moore Capito (WV-2), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-27), Allyson Schwartz (PA-13), Earl Blumenauer (OR-3), and Edward Royce (CA-39).