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That doesn't mean that a budget agreement is completely out of the question or the much more unlikely scenario that Congress won't get paid. The No Budget No Pay Act holds Congressional paychecks in escrow, and, by law, will release the funds either when a budget agreement is reached, or on the last day of the 113th Congress, which ends on December 31, 2014..Masks and face coverings remain an important tool to stop spread of the coronavirus, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Congress this week, adding that he's worried that some Americans appear to be ignoring the advice.."Sequester Savings on Senior Programs Would Add New Cost, Study Says," Kerry Young, CQ Roll Call. "Meals on Wheels Budget Cuts: 'Slowly Developing Crisis,'" Jeanne Sahadi, CNN Money, May 6, 2013..It's not perfect - we still have a year to go before implementation starts. However, starting in 2022, consumers will no longer receive surprise or "balance bills" when they are unknowingly treated by out-of-network providers. Patients will pay only the deductible and copayment amounts they ordinarily would under the in-network terms of their insurance plans. Medical providers will not be allowed to hold patients responsible for difference between the amount they get and the higher fees they would like to charge. Instead providers will have to work that out with insurers..But in 2017, if your AGI remains ,000, you could deduct only allowable medical expenses over 10% of your AGI, or ,000. If you again had medical expenses of ,000, you would only be able to deduct ,000. In this example you you would pay taxes on an additional ,250..Will the program ban payment of benefits based on unauthorized earnings by undocumented immigrants under invalid Social Security Numbers?.The Congressional Budget Office recently reviewed a proposal that would boost the taxable amount of Social Security benefits, as one of the options for Congress to consider to reduce the federal deficit. The proposal, which the CBO has reviewed in prior versions of its Options to Reduce the Deficit, would tax Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits the same way that distributions from defined benefit pensions are taxed. This is expected to increase the taxable income of older Americans..In a letter to Congressman Davis, Art Cooper Chairman of TSCL's Board of Trustees wrote: "According to a recent study completed by TSCL, Social Security beneficiaries have lost over 20 percent of their purchasing power since 2000. Those who are subjected to the WEP and the GPO have undoubtedly fallen even further behind. It is now more important than ever for Congress to address the inequities that have been created by the WEP and the GPO, and TSCL believes the Social Security Fairness Act is a fair and responsible solution.".COLA cuts: The White House proposes switching to the more slowly - growing measure of inflation, the chained consumer price index, to calculate annual COLAs. The proposal has bipartisan support in Congress. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it would cut spending on Social Security about 7 billion over the next ten years and bring in roughly 4 billion in higher taxes. To learn how the proposal would impact your benefits, try TSCL's Chained COLA calculator.