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Hopes are dimming that Congress will intervene to block a huge Medicare premium increase of over 50 percent for nearly a third of the 50 million elderly Americans who receive their physician care and other health services through Medicare Part D. (Pianin, 10/22)

Some seniors on Medicare could end up paying about $120 more a month in premiums and deductibles if the Social Security Administration follows through on this week's announcement that there will be no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) this year, according to a California congressman. In addition, the state could find itself picking up a tab of about half a billion dollars for many Californians who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medi-Cal, said Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), the Democratic Caucus chairman in the House of Representatives and the ranking member of the House Ways & Means subcommittee on Social Security. (Gorn, 10/22)

Carson, who now leads the GOP field in Iowa according to the latest Quinnipiac Poll, would eliminate the program that provides health care to 49 million senior citizens, as well as Medicaid, and replace it with a system of cradle-to-grave savings accounts which would be funded with $2,000 a year in government contributions. While rivals have been pummeled for proposing less radical changes, Carson hasn't faced the same scrutiny -- and his continued traction in polls has left GOP strategists and conservative health care wonks scratching their heads. (Cheney and Millman, 10/22)