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check-ups. Often, it's insidiously hard to tell whether a problem really is.Last year the Government Accountability Office in a report to Congress defined "notches" as "unduly large incremental reductions." In addition, the GAO further said "Notches create marked inequities between beneficiaries close in age to each other.".The health-related negatives of fried food include generally higher calories and fat, as well as extra salt and a tastiness that often leads people to eat multiple servings, which contributes to weight problems..A letter to the editor of The Topeka Capital Journal describes one such case of Medicare's over-compensation problem. The writer said that after receiving a back brace for treatment of spinal stenosis, the local back therapy center billed Medicare ,300. Yet the writer found the same brace from the same manufacturer online for Medicare approved 4 for the brace. The writer said that when he contacted the Medicare fraud unit he was told that 4 was the correct Medicare - approved payment to providers for the brace and was told there was nothing Medicare could do about the over-pricing..Does it make sense to allow so many to become entitled based on illegal benefits? Previous estimates by TSCL and other policy groups project that the cost could add hundreds of billions of dollars to a program that is now in deficit..The Social Security COLA was intended to protect the buying power of older Americans who for the most part, are no longer in the workforce. The majority of retirees depend on Social Security for at least half of their income, meaning that Social Security benefits tend to be spent immediately on essentials like housing, food and healthcare returning billions of dollars to the U.S. economy every year..Heating and cooling: According to TSCL's Annual Survey of senior costs, residential fuel oil has been the fastest rising expense for more than a decade. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a 250-gallon delivery of home heating oil this season may cost more than With the average monthly Social Security payment around ,100, that's a cost few seniors can afford and still have something left over for groceries. Take time to survey suppliers in your area and compare costs. Do ask for a senior citizen discount and learn the supplier's payment options. Financing your heating fuel through the supplier may give you smaller, more manageable payments, but you will pay financing fees and interest. With interest so low on savings, it sometimes makes sense to pay in full when you can to save financing charges..As a father of three children attending public school, I want them to have access to the best educators. H.R. 973 will not only give our public servants the certainty they deserve but a chance to recruit and retain the best, brightest, and most dedicated educators so America can continue to compete..On August 15th, President Obama went on the record saying, "We should extend the payroll tax cut as soon as possible, so that workers have more money in their paychecks next year and businesses have more customers next year."