Social Security defines an overpayment as "any time beneficiaries receive more than they should have." This occurs for a number for reasons, but most frequently when Social Security isn't notified of changes, such as a death of a beneficiary or excess earnings when working. Overpayments can also be due to errors by the Social Security Administration, but even when the overpayments are Social Security's own fault, the beneficiary must prove he or she is not at fault. .More recently they have justified high prices by comparing them with the costs they would prevent. Expensive hepatitis C drugs, they say, avoid the need for a million liver transplant. No matter that the comparison being made is to the highly inflated costs of treating disease in American hospitals. .This week, lawmakers in the House and Senate voted to begin conference negotiations on legislation to overhaul the tax code. Representatives in the House passed their tax reform bill last month, and Senators in the Senate passed their version last Friday, with a vote of 51-4Members of the bicameral conference committee have been busy ironing out the differences between the two bills this week, and they hope to have a deal reached before they adjourn for the holiday recess on December 22nd. .Help! I'm turning 65 soon. My daughter says I should sign up for Medicare, but I don't know what to do or where to begin. I work for a small company with 17 employees, where I get my health insurance now. About a week is currently taken out of my paycheck for premiums. My current health coverage isn't that good. It has a ,500 deductible and, because I'm still in good health, I've never been able to benefit. .Forty-eight percent (48%) have gone without essentials including food, disinfecting products, face masks, due to shortages, rationing or high prices. .Should lawmakers fail to reach an agreement before midnight on Friday, April 28th, a federal government shutdown will occur. TSCL hopes that Congress will avert a shutdown since Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries would see negative impacts if one were to occur. We will be monitoring the negotiations closely in the coming hours and days and will post progress updates on Twitter. .The amount you get from Social Security may surprise you. While the amount you receive depends on how many years you worked, your earnings, and the age at which you start benefits, the average monthly Social Security payment today is about ,100. People who retire with average benefits will receive about ,200 in 2011 prior to Medicare premium deductions. With people spending as much as 25 years in retirement, people who retire today with an initial benefit of ,100 can expect to receive more than 6,800 in Social Security over 25 years. But that assumes no changes to cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). .Trustees Release Annual Social Security and Medicare Reports .In his opening statement, Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (TX-3) said: "Although Social Security now has modern hardware and modern data centers, its employees are still using software that is decades out of date. About 30 percent of these legacy systems still use COBOL code, an ancient programming language that isn't even taught in schools anymore." He explained that maintaining the outdated system is costly, it requires extra training for employees, and it is difficult to update when needed.