COLA Increase for Social Security & Medicare Open Enrollment Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 8.7 percent in 2023, the Social Security Administration announced this week. On average, Social Security benefits will increase by more than $140 per month starting in January. The 8.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 65 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2023. Increased payments to more than 7 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 30, 2022. Medicare Open Enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7. During this time, those eligible for Medicare can compare 2023 coverage options on Medicare.gov. Medicare.gov provides information, as well as an updated Medicare Plan Finder, to allow people to compare options for health and drug coverage, which may change from year to year. Medicare Plan Finder was updated with the 2023 Medicare health and prescription drug plan information on Saturday, October 1 to allow people to begin previewing health and drug plans before the enrollment period opens on October 15.    1-800-MEDICARE is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide help. People who want to keep their current Medicare coverage do not need to re-enroll. To view options for health and drug coverage, please visit the Medicare Plan Finder on Medicare.gov.

No votes this week. The House will be in session on November 14, 2022.

This week, I traveled to Mountain View to attend Stone Bank's annual ceremony honoring veterans in Stone County. I presented each veteran with a flag that has flown over the U.S. Capitol. It is an honor to attend this ceremony each year and visit with veterans in the First District.

I also stopped by Timbo Schools for a ceremony to present them with a new flag to fly on campus that has flown over the U.S. Capitol. Thank you to the administration, faculty, and students at Timbo Schools for inviting me to attend.

World Grain China's plan to build corn mill in U.S. draws scrutiny “There is no goodwill tied up in their presence in the US,” said Rick Crawford, US representative for Arkansas and member of the US House Agriculture and House Intelligence committees. “They are here for the advancement of their own interests and not for ours. Everything that China does, in the US in particular, but anywhere else, is done with an eye toward gaining a strategic advantage for themselves. A lot of times they cloak this in the idea that they’re doing this to improve economic conditions in a given country.”