The Obama Administration and proponents of Obamacare have continued to downplay the cancellations of the health insurance of 4.7 million individual policy-holders (including yours truly) who received notices that our polices would be ending in 2014 because they didn't comply with the new healthcare law. I was able to temporarily renew my so-called. .High drug or health plan premiums don't necessarily purchase better coverage. For example, the generic blood pressure medication Lisinopril is one of the most commonly used prescriptions by Medicare beneficiaries. The least expensive Part D plan in my area charges Sources: Impact of Alien Nonpayment Provisions on Field Offices Along the Mexican Border, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, February 2011 A-08-10-20140. Impact of Unauthorized Employment on Social Security Benefits, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, December 2006, A-14-05-14042. ."Switching to the chained CPI would have a long-term impact on the ability of Social Security COLAs to prevent an erosion in the buying power of benefits," states TSCL Social Security policy analyst Mary Johnson. "The index, known as the Chained Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (C-CPI-U), would reduce benefits by roughly 7 percent over a 30 - year retirement," Johnson stated in an analysis prepared for TSCL. .In some hard-hit states, inspectors conducted remote surveys rather than going into nursing homes, a process that involved speaking to staff by phone and reviewing records. In Pennsylvania, for example, inspectors conducted interviews and reviewed documents for 657 facilities from March 13 to May 15 — most of which was done remotely. .Four Bills Gain Support .Last week we wrote about a new bill that was expected to be introduced this week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that would lower prescription drug prices on some of the most expensive drugs. The plan would allow the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate the price of up to 250 drugs per year, and the lower prices would apply to people both with private insurance and those on Medicare. .This week's announcement from SSA came as concerns from the Administration were rising about pending budget proposals before Congress. Lawmakers in the House have proposed more than 0 million less than the requested amount for administrative duties. SSA has said that if their proposal were to take effect, they would be forced to implement immediate furloughs, hiring freezes, and temporary office closures. .Put your mother's apartment on the market and work to sell it. This means giving it a thorough cleaning, a fresh coat of paint if needed, and minor repairs. .Housing: (rent of primary residence, owners' equivalent rent, fuel oil, bedroom furniture) .By Rick Delaney, Chairman of the Board copay for Tier 1 generics, and the monthly premium is just .50 in the zip code used in this search. The most expensive plan charges a co-pay of .19, and the plan has a monthly premium of .30 — a difference of ,055.88 for the entire year counting premiums! .TSCL has concerns about this approach, since it would mean that Social Security's Old Age and Survivor's Insurance (OASI) trust fund would receive 0.9 percent less in payroll tax revenues, worsening the retirement program's financing. In a recent poll conducted by TSCL, this approach received virtually no support from respondents – less than 1 percent said shifting revenues from one trust fund to another would be the best way to fix the program's solvency. .TSCL enthusiastically supports the bills mentioned above, and we look forward to helping build support for them in the coming months. .Since the start of CPI-E in 1983, the average difference between it and the CPI-W is roughly .25 percentage point per year. Sounds tiny but, like interest, it compounds over time. Had the CPI-E been used to determine COLAs since 2015, your benefit would be about 2% higher today. An average benefit of ,215 per month in 2015 will increase to ,298 per month in 2020. But had the CPI-E been used to calculate the COLAs, that benefit would have been per month more or ,324 in 2020. .Congress should prohibit "surprise medical bills. Congress should require healthcare providers and insurers to accept fees no greater than 20 percent more than the Medicare approved fees as settlement. — 82 percent support, 15 percent not sure, and only 4 percent opposed. (Legislation passed in December would provide relief from surprise medical bills but stopped short of tying payments to prices paid by Medicare and Medicaid which are often lower than other rates negotiated by other insurers.) .UnitedHealth, the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, announced in mid-November that they would be dropping thousands of doctors from their networks in at least ten states. By the end of 2014, the company expects its network of doctors to be 85 percent to 90 percent of its pre-Obamacare size. .This week, The Senior Citizens League was pleased to see support grow for three bipartisan bills that would improve the Medicare program and reduce prescription drug prices. .A new audit performed this year by the SSA's Office of Inspector General found that the same problem persists. The Inspector General identified 26,033 spouses – who were eligible for about 5.3 million in higher retirement benefits (about ,502 a piece on average).