Dr. Kevin Schulman, a physician-economist at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, called that amount "staggering." But Katherine Baicker, dean of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, said that from society's perspective "0 billion might not be an unreasonable sum" to pay to tame an epidemic that has left millions unemployed and cost the economy trillions. .On Tuesday, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles released a revised version of their "Moment of Truth" report, which was drafted by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform in 20In the new framework, the two recommend averting the sequester – the billion in automatic cuts that are scheduled to hit in just one week – and replacing it with .4 trillion in deficit reduction. .Homeowners: Are You Covered For The Next Disaster? Maybe Not .This week, one new cosponsor – Rep. Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) – signed on to the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 973). The cosponsor total is now up to 13If signed into law, the bill would repeal two federal provisions that unfairly reduce or eliminate the earned Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, firefighters, peace officers, and other state or local government employees each year. TSCL enthusiastically supports the Social Security Fairness Act, and we were pleased to see one new cosponsor sign on to it this week. .This week, the CBO released its report on the long term budget outlook, which found that the federal debt is projected to increase from today's rate of 74 percent of GDP to 106 percent of GDP in twenty-five years if no major changes are made. The nonpartisan agency said the trend cannot be sustained indefinitely, and already, the total amount of debt held by the public is "higher than at any point in U.S. history except a brief period around World War II." .The good news is that there was progress last week in moving the needed legislation forward. The Senate passed its own version of H.R.1868, which would postpone the cuts for another nine months. .Are you at risk of a notch in your Social Security benefits? A & 8220;notch& 8221; refers to inequality in benefits between people who are close in age and have similar earnings records. One birth group receives significantly more in benefits, sometimes thousands of dollars per year, than. Benefit Bulletin: March/April 2013 ,000 Notch Fairness Act Reintroduced .On Wednesday, the budget conference that was created in last month's deal to raise the debt ceiling and re-open the government met publicly for the first time. Each of the twenty-nine members – including seven House members and all twenty-two members of the Senate Budget Committee – made opening statements to establish their positions. As expected, many of the conferees seemed split along party lines on Wednesday, but each of them stressed a strong desire to reach an agreement. .Medicare Advantage plans are booming in popularity with retirees, as a low-cost health coverage alternative. In 2016, the plans cover more than 18 million people, but troubling audits indicate that many plans are overbilling the government for many, if not the majority, of the patients treated. Because overcharges drive up Medicare program spending, the higher costs are shifted to all people enrolled in Medicare through rising Part B premiums— even to people who never enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan.