The Moment of Truth Project report calls it a technical correction and argues that government would simply be making the CPI more accurate. But if that's true, why haven't the economists at the BLS gone ahead and changed it already? They can't. The reality is that it requires a legislative change. It's not simply a matter for BLS economists. It's a matter for Congress —the same lawmakers who are answerable to you and me. .After raiding the current system, the health care law then takes the one aspect of Medicare that everyone agrees is broken and uses it as a model for the future. The health care law establishes the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) as a tool that is supposed to hold down costs; it is modeled after the failed formula that sets the underfunded Medicare physician reimbursement rates. President Obama recently doubled down on this controversial rationing board, and it seems to be the Democrats' only proposal. .This week, TSCL endorsed two new bills from Congressman Lloyd Doggett (TX-35) – the Transparent Drug Pricing Act (H.R. 4116) and the Competitive DRUGS Act (H.R. 4117). If signed into law, the bills would promote transparency in the prescription drug industry and prevent anti-competitive pay-for-delay deals, in which brand-name drug companies pay generic drug makers millions of dollars to delay the introduction of their generic medicines to the market. .The new bill would reform the health care system in several ways if adopted. It would remove the ACA's individual and employer mandates, modify tax credits so they would be based on age instead of income, create a new penalty for individuals who do not maintain continuous health insurance coverage, and allow health insurers to charge older Americans five times more than they charge younger folks for their coverage, making health insurance unaffordable for millions of seniors who are not yet eligible for Medicare. .Despite claims that the proposal would have no cost for the Social Security program, research shows that it would put a financial strain on the Social Security program. According to a report released this week by the American Action Forum, this family leave proposal would have a net cost of around 6 billion, and it would advance the insolvency of the Social Security Trust Funds by around six months. .This week, one new cosponsor – Rep. Steve Israel (NY-3) – signed on to the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E) Act (H.R. 1030), bringing the cosponsor total up to twenty-four. If signed into law, H.R. 1030 would adopt the CPI-E for the purpose of calculating Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). Currently, COLAs are based upon the way young, urban workers spend their money – a method that underestimates the spending inflation seniors experience. H.R. 1030 would address this issue, resulting in more fair and accurate COLAs for seniors. .Several subcommittee members at Thursday's hearing spoke about the importance of stable and reliable funding for the administration in the coming years so that it can continue its efforts to modernize the program's IT system. The Senior Citizens League agrees that adequate administrative funding is critical, and we will continue to advocate for the Social Security Administration Fairness Act (S. 6251, H.R. 3147) in the months ahead. That bill, if adopted, would set SSA's funding level at 1.5 percent of overall benefit payments, and it would implement a moratorium on field office closures so that beneficiaries receive the service they have earned and deserve. .The gap between prices was even higher for brand-name drugs, with U.S. prices 3.44 times more than those in the other countries. Meanwhile, prices for generic drugs are slightly lower in the U.S. than in most other countries. Unbranded generic drugs account for 84% of drugs sold in the U.S. by volume, the researchers found, but only 12% of U.S. spending. .Sources: "Social Security, Treasury Target Taxpayers For Their Parents' Decades-Old Debts," Marc Fisher, The Washington Post, April 10, 201