One of our purposes in visiting with those offices was to find out why they do not support the bill and to see if there is any hope that some compromise to the bill could be reached. The main reason they do not support the Grassley-Wyden bill is because it has a provision that they believe would, in essence, result in government price-setting of drug prices and would be a first step toward a one-payer (meaning government) health care system. Each office mentioned other bills that they might support but there is not one bill that the Republican majority is currently in favor of and that might have a chance to pass. It was also stated that because this is an election year there is a very short timeline for action to be taken. .Other priorities in 2015 will include advocating for a more fair and accurate Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, monitoring the continued implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and protecting Medicare Advantage enrollees from harsh and unforeseen benefit cuts. .In addition, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is prohibited from negotiating directly with pharmaceutical companies on behalf of the more than 40 million Americans who get their prescription drug coverage from Medicare Part D. .TSCL supports H.R. 4012 enthusiastically, and we were pleased to see two new cosponsors sign on to it this week. We will be advocating for the passage of H.R. 4012 and S. 2251 – Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (MA) companion bill – tirelessly in the coming months because we know that a 3.9 percent COLA would provide much-needed relief to our members and supporters next year. .Social Security Loss of Buying Power report including study methodology available for download. Loss of Buying Power Report. .72% support applying the Social Security payroll tax to all earnings (instead of capping the amount of wages to be taxed at 2,800), a move that would reduce Social Security's long - term deficit by as much as 73%. .TSCL enthusiastically supports S. 2011, H.R. 2575, H.R. 991, and H.R. 1205, and we were pleased to see support grow for each one this week. For more information about these and other bills endorsed by TSCL, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website. .At the time of writing this update on Friday morning, the vote had not yet occurred. It is expected to take place on Friday afternoon, before the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has a chance to evaluate the final version. It remains unclear whether or not the AHCA will gain the support needed to win passage. If adopted, the AHCA will move to the Senate, where its future remains even more uncertain. If it fails, Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have said they will move on to other legislative priorities, like tax reform. ."The bill does nothing at all to reduce or eliminate the tax on Social Security benefits that burdens more than half of all retiree households," Johnson notes. Yet the tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest households in the Tax Cut and Jobs Act will add an estimated .5 trillion to the national debt. Some conservative Members of Congress say they are planning a budget that would require mandatory spending cuts to reduce the debt next year.