1. President Obama is demanding Congress use a special parliamentary trick to secure passage of his massive government-run health care scheme.
 
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-obama-democrats-reconciliation-rules-needed/story?id=9995953&page=1
 
Instead of bringing up the entire 2,400 page piece of legislation where Senators could launch a filibuster and Obama would need 60 Senate votes, Obama is insisting on using the “reconciliation” process to sidestep Senate opposition and ram Obamacare into law with a simple majority of 50 (Vice President Biden would break any tie in favor of Obama’s government-run scheme).
 
According to sources, Obama’s plan would require the U.S. House to enact the Senate version of health care reform as it is currently written.
 
http://healthcare.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDY1Njk1ODEwOWE5ZTc5OWViMjAyMGJkNGQ3MGQ5OWM=
 
Then, pre-arranged “fixes” would be shepherded through the House and the Senate under special reconciliation rules which were designed to speed certain very specific spending measures.
 
One of the “fixes” the President wants to push through using this special trick would be a major slash in seniors’ health care benefits under the Medicare Advantage program.
 
Secured by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) during the initial Senate health care debate back in December, Nelson’s provision would “grandfather” millions of Seniors facing severe cuts in health care benefits they currently receive from the Medicare Advantage program.
 
According to John Rother, executive vice president for policy and strategy for AARP, of the 1 million or so Floridians participating in Medicare Advantage, about 800,000 would be protected from possible cuts. 
 
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y) bragged that Sen. Nelson’s fix amounted to "a special protection worth billions of dollars to stop Medicare cuts for 800,000 New York seniors."
 
http://manateepolitics.blogspot.com/2009/12/nelson-touts-health-care-vote-and-his.html
Last week’s health care “summit” gave Obama’s government-run plan a short boost in poll numbers.  Rasmussen Reports show Obama’s health care plan checking in with 44% support, its highest level since mid-November of 2009.
 
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/health_care_reform
 
However, just 22% of respondents reported “strongly” favoring Obamacare while 43% reported “strongly” opposing it.  Notably, opposition was strongest among the 65 and older demographic.
 
 
 
2. One option for seniors interested in helping Medicare save money is to join a local Senior Medicare Patrol.
 
http://www.smpresource.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
 
Created in 1997, local SMP’s recruit senior volunteers to assist with outreach presentations to Medicare beneficiaries, exhibits at community events, answering phone calls on help lines and face to face counseling.
 
SMP volunteers teach Medicare beneficiaries how to protect their personal identity, identify and report errors on their health care bills and identify deceptive health care practices, such as illegal marketing, providing unnecessary or inappropriate services and charging for services that were never provided.
 
Volunteers receive extensive training and are required to pass an open book “assessment” about the history of the Medicare program, Medicare basics and how to spot and report Medicare fraud.
 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704509704575018893123079602.html#printMode
 
3        USA Today reports the surpluses in the Social Security Trust Fund were reduced to $3 billion in 2009 from $80 billion in previous years
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-02-07-social-security-red-retirements_N.htm
 
The Social Security Trust Fund has been running large surpluses for years as the payroll tax has greatly exceeded outgoing benefit payments.  However, stagnant wage growth in 2009 reduced anticipated revenue for the Trust Fund while the number of retired workers claiming benefits jumped an unexpected 20%.
 
Claims for disability also jumped 10% and a 5.4% cost of living increase for current beneficiaries added strain to the Trust Fund.
 
Projections had placed the year when Social Security would no longer take in more than it paid out in benefits at 2016 or 2017.  If economic growth remains stalled and claims against the Trust Fund continue to grow, the Trust Fund may be forced to turn to the U.S. Treasury for a bail out much sooner than expected.