Finally, the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R.1205) from Congressman Rodney Davis (IL-13) gained ten new cosponsors this week, bringing the total up to 158 in the House. The bill, if adopted, would repeal two provisions of the Social Security Act that reduce the earned benefits of millions of state and local government employees each year. .In our meetings on Capitol Hill, we're frequently told that Notch reform would more likely be addressed when Congress takes action on comprehensive Social Security reform, as it appears to be interested in doing now. TSCL is meeting with Members of Congress to ensure that Notch Reform is considered. .Sixty – seven percent of seniors participating in the survey said they already spend up to one-third of their Social Security benefits on Medicare costs. Another 21 percent said they spent up to one-half. "Because healthcare costs are rising more rapidly than Social Security benefits, spending on Medicare takes an increasing share of senior income as seniors age," says Cates. .But among other things, if consumers can't find the cost of health care, the idea of the free market is impossible. .The Grassley-Wyden package would create a rebate system in Medicare Part B and Part D beginning in 2022 for brand-name drugs and biological products with prices that increase faster than inflation. Conservative groups and some Senate Republicans have opposed the rebate system for Part D, the prescription drug benefit program, but not for Part B, the outpatient services program. .During the Great Recession and immediately afterwards, mature workers got a raw deal; it's time for Congress to give them a Better Deal. .The Medicare Part D "doughnut hole" – the gap in coverage that occurs when beneficiaries reach their initial annual payment limit – is costing many older Americans thousands of dollars per year. Not all beneficiaries hit the limit each year, but in a recent survey of TSCL's members and supporters, we learned that 28%, more than one-in-four respondents, fell into the doughnut hole in 2015. .Sources: "The Out-of-Pocket Cost Burden For Specialty Drugs in Medicare Part D in 2019," Juliette Cubanski, Wyatt Koma, Tricia Neuman, Kaiser Family Foundation, January 201https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/the-out-of-pocket-cost-burden-for-specialty-drugs-in-medicare-part-d-in-2019/ "How Trump's Latest Plan to Cut Drug Prices Will Affect You," Katie Thomas and Reed Abelson, The New York Times, February 5, 2019/ .The report found similar price disparities in expensive specialty drugs that treat complicated conditions like cancer.