By way of a quick explanation, except for special circumstances, any legislation that goes through Congress has to start in the committee of jurisdiction, meaning the committee that deals with legislation pertaining to a specific subject. In the case of prescription drug legislation, those committees are Finance, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Appropriations. That's one of the reasons passing this legislation is so complicated. .The Senior Citizens League agrees that the Social Security 2100 Act is a fair and responsible solution to the financing challenges facing the program, and we are proud to have endorsed the it. In the months ahead, we will advocate for its passage tirelessly, and we hope to see it signed into law before the end of this year. .Interestingly, the big drug manufacturers do not like the new rule. A spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the drug industry's largest trade group, said the rule is "unconscionable" for making it "harder for patients to use manufacturer cost-sharing assistance to lower their out-of-pocket costs for medicines." .The alternative to this approach is control by a board of unelected bureaucrats known as the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). This board will consist of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats empowered to make decisions about what kind of care people on Medicare can receive. I am greatly concerned that this board is being given way too much authority to determine what benefits are covered and how much physicians are paid. This commission's sole intention will be to determine whether Medicare is spending more than is budgeted and, if so, to offer "fixes" to cut back on Medicare spending that would then be fast-tracked with very little opportunity for Congressional input. President Obama's former Budget Director Peter Orszag called IPAB "the single biggest yielding of power to an independent entity since the creation of the federal reserve." I believe the best way to control costs in Medicare is to increase choice and competition, not cede control of health care decisions to a board of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats. .The 113th Congress: A New Opportunity for TSCL ."'We find no indication that these reductions in demand affect only ‘low-value' drugs; on the contrary, those at the highest risk of heart attack and stroke, who would benefit the most from statins and antihypertensives, cut back more on these drugs than lower-risk patients.'" .So far, many accomplishments have made the first session of the 113th Congress a memorable one for TSCL. To read more about our latest efforts, check out our Legislative Updates. .In addition, the AHCA would repeal a tax created by the ACA that serves as a critical funding stream for Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. Cutting the tax would accelerate the insolvency of the Medicare Part A Trust Fund, and in a matter of a few years, it would become exhausted. In a Washington Post opinion piece, former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Andy Slavitt wrote, "That's clearly no accident: The program would wind up right where ‘entitlement hawks' such as House Speaker Paul D Ryan (R-Wis.) want it – in crisis. If this bill became law, the speaker would finally be positioned to change Medicare to a voucher program." .According to the IRS, advance payments of the Child Tax Credit will be made from July through December to eligible taxpayers and will be up to 50% of the credit. Advance payments will be estimated from your 2020 tax returns, or 2019 returns if the 2020 returns are not filed and processed yet.