Alexandria, VSpiking drug prices are taking large numbers of Medicare beneficiaries by surprise according to a new survey by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). Sixty-one percent of people with Medicare drug coverage report higher co-pays and co-insurance costs than expected in 2014 according to more than 1,000 survey participants. The reason for the cost spikes may be tough for many beneficiaries to figure out, according to the survey. Sky-high drug prices are commonly associated with brand and newer specialty drugs, but cost spikes are now affecting generics as well. .This week, one new cosponsor – Rep. David Loebsack (IA-2) – signed on to the Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures (PRIME) Act (H.R. 2305). The total is now up to sixty-two. If signed into law, the PRIME Act would take a number of steps to comprehensively 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. .What you can do: Contact your Members of Congress and tell them that cutting the COLA to reduce the deficit is unacceptable. To provide income seniors can rely on over a retirement, COLAs needs to keep up with rising costs, something they don't do well enough now. .The further we read into the Affordable Care Act, the more we learn it doesn't address the issues of rising costs and access to quality care. A majority of my patients were either Medicare beneficiaries or Medicaid recipients. I understand the importance of these issues and want you to know that I am working hard to ensure everyone, especially seniors, has access to quality care and to keep the Federal Government out of the way when it comes to making the important decisions that affect your health and well being. .What can you do? .Because of the strong push on the part of the President and members of Congress to find a way to lower drug prices, and getting drugs from other countries where the cost is lower has become popular as a solution, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released a proposal to let states submit drug importation plans for federal approval. .What Is Tracked In Determining The COLA? .Recently we learned of a woman, now in her 80's, who has moved twice in the past decade to be close to her daughter. Her first move was from the family home in Connecticut to an up-scale retirement community in Virginia, and more recently following her daughter to Arizona after her son-in-law's job changed. Her former Virginia home has been sitting on the market for months. That's posing a drain on her resources, adding unanticipated costs for new housing at a time when her need for caregiving services is growing. Her daughter worried that the former facility wasn't handling things well. .There are now efforts for legislation to boost domestic manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. There is a new measure that would require the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to "convene a committee of experts to analyze the impact of U.S. dependence" on foreign medicines and to make recommendations to Congress. There is also an effort to use the fiscal 2021 defense authorization bill to strengthen U.S.-based pharmaceutical manufacturing and advance "make it in America" policies that favor domestic drug-production plants.