GOP Plan is “Coupon Care” for Seniors
Congressman Xavier Becerra is one of Washington?s most ardent supporters of Social Security and Medicare. As a member of the President?s Fiscal Commission (he voted against the destructive Bowles-Simpson plan) and ranking member of the Social Security Subcommittee he is one of seniors? ?good guys? on Capitol Hill. Today he offered this frank assessment of what the GOP Budget plan proposes for middle-class America and seniors especially:?This isn?t a fiscal document this is a roadmap to poverty for middle-class Americans. This is a manifesto of GOP goals since the days of Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. Republicans have drained our surpluses and depleted our resources to convince the public that we must now shrink government.”?This is it ? this is the real deal. The fight for our future is on. It?s time to put our battle armor back on and arm up with the weapons we need ? the facts and the true stories about what these vital programs really mean to our nation.?Becerra met with members of the nation?s largest Aging Coalition, the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations, today and described in detail how the GOP Budget would destroy Medicare, replacing it with little more than ?coupon care?. The Congressional Budget Office analysis shows seniors will pay much more for their healthcare ? which is no longer guaranteed by the government and instead managed by private insurance companies. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research?seniors won?t be paying just a little more, they?ll face $20,000 in additional healthcare costs under the GOP Budget plan??According to the CBO analysis the benefit would cover 32 percent of the cost of a health insurance package equivalent to the current Medicare benefit (Figure 1). This means that the beneficiary would pay 68 percent of the cost of this package. Using the CBO assumption of 2.5 percent annual inflation, the voucher would have grown to $9,750 by 2030. This means that a Medicare type plan for someone age 65 would be $30,460 under Representative Ryan’s plan, leaving seniors with a bill of $20,700. (This does not count various out of pocket medical expenditures not covered by Medicare.)?The GOP?s ?Coupon Care? plan for seniors replaces Medicare with a privatized system that gives insurance companies federal dollars to provide less care. Washington Monthly summed it up best:?I’d just add that some folks may have forgotten why Medicare was created in the first place. The nature of the human body is that ailments are more common as we get older, and profit-seeking insurance companies weren’t keen on covering those who cost so much more to cover. On average, folks who’ve lived more than six decades often have pre-existing conditions, and we know all too well what insurers think of those with pre-existing conditions. Seniors relied on this system for many years, but it didn’t work. We created Medicare because relying on private insurers didn’t work. And now Republicans want to roll back the clock.?
A Path to Prosperity-Unless you’re under 55, or poor, or widowed, or disabled, or a child who lost a parent, or middle class or have anyone in your family who is or ever will be
It?s clear GOP Budget Chairman Paul Ryan?s ?Path to Prosperity? budget plan is anything but for the vast majority of working Americans. The alleged core value of ?shared sacrifice? actually means sacrifice for everyone except corporations (especially insurers) and wealthy Americans. The House GOP leadership?s dream for America couldn?t be more clearly defined than in the budget plan unveiled today. More tax breaks for the wealthy and budget cuts for everyone else.
For Americans who depend on Social Security and Medicare, this budget plan says ?tough luck?. For corporations that want even more tax loopholes and insurers who?d love the government to pay them to provide seniors less coverage at a higher cost, this budget is truly a dream come true. For working Americans; however, this budget is their worst nightmare. That?s the message we delivered today at a Capitol Hill news conference led by Families USA :?The Medicare provisions, in particular, will send this nation back to a time before Medicare was enacted, when over one-half of the senior population had no health care coverage at all. The Ryan plan would replace the current Medicare program with vouchers and leave seniors and the disabled ? some of our most vulnerable Americans ? hostage to the whims of the private marketplace. Over time, this will destroy the only health insurance program available to 47 million Americans. Vouchers are designed not to keep up with the increasing cost of health insurance? that is why they save money. Destroying Medicare and leaving millions of Americans without adequate health coverage is not a path to prosperity for anyone except for-profit insurers and the American people understand that.? Max Richtman, NCPSSM Executive Vice PresidentThat?s why nearly 100,000 National Committee members have signed letters to their representatives on Capitol Hill reminding them that cutting Social Security and Medicare is not the answer to our budget woes. Those letters have been delivered to Congress today with a clear message:?Social Security and Medicare belong to the American people who have paid (and are paying) into these programs in exchange for promised benefits. I urge you to reject any deficit reduction plans that cut benefits and, instead, support only those proposals that ensure the viability of Social Security and Medicare.?Here is just some of what the GOP budget plan would do:
- Eliminate Medicare and replace it with a privatized system where seniors get vouchers (however, Ryan?s new poll-tested language is now ?premium assistance payments?) to pay for health care. In truth, we prefer to call them ?coupons? since they really offer about that much assistance because the whole idea is that the voucher will never actually cover the true costs of healthcare. That?s where the government saves money. Under this scheme, taxpayers will pay insurers to provide less coverage while beneficiaries pick up more of the tab. Congressional Quarterly describes it this way:
?The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reviewed an earlier version of the plan and found it probably would lead to increased costs or reduced benefits for beneficiaries. ?First, most of the savings for Medicare under the proposal stem from reducing the amounts that the federal government would pay for enrollees on a per capita basis,? according to the CBO?s Nov. 17 analysis. ?Second, future beneficiaries would probably face higher premiums in the private market for a package of benefits similar to that currently provided by Medicare.?
- Social Security reforms will be fast-tracked. While the legislative language of Ryan?s plan doesn?t propose specific cuts (allowing them to claim ?we?re not cutting Social Security? before an election year) this legislation does create a new triggering mechanism and fast-tracked process for Social Security cuts which is unprecedented in the history of Congressional budget resolutions. The trigger language in this bill is designed to circumvent the current process in order to mandate fast-tracked reforms through Congress. And since this bill?s summary also rules out revenue changes, such as the most popular option for Social Security reform, raising the payroll tax cap so that the wealthier pay their fair share, what?s left? Benefit cuts. In fact, the Ryan plan?s summary endorses cutting future Social Security benefits for everyone who is earning more than $22,000 a year right now (while they?re working) ? which is the vast majority of Americans.
- Social Security Administration cuts. This budget also assumes a continuation of GOP budget proposals which undermine Social Security by cutting its administrative budget so deep that the SSA can?t process claims in a timely way to serve the public.
- Won?t pay back the Trust Fund. Rep. Ryan?s budget summary denies the federal government?s responsibility to repay the $2.6 trillion Social Security trust fund, built up by payroll contributions from generations of working Americans. This Budget plan states: ?Any value in the balances in the Social Security trust fund is derived from dubious government accounting.?
In other words, it was real money when you paid it into the Trust Fund but now House GOP leaders have declared those dollars just ?dubious government accounting.? Speaking of dubious accounting, some are already raising the red flag on this plan?s manipulation of the numbers.Make no mistake about it, House Republican leaders intend to use the current fiscal crisis, created by decades of borrow and spend policies to justify slashing programs which touch the lives of virtually every American family.This isn?t fiscal responsibility.But it does show just how large the disconnect between House Republican leaders and working Americans truly is because the American people will not support dismantling Medicare or cuts in Social Security. These are not the priorities seniors voted for last November and now?s the time to deliver that message.Take a moment and use our Legislative Action Center to send an email to your members of Congress. It?s easy and all you need to know is your zipcode. We must let Washington know Paul Ryan?s priorities are not America?s priorities.
GOP House Leader Wishes for an America without Social Security
Every once in awhile?and honestly, it doesn?t happen that often here in Washington?a politician says exactly what he thinks. He/she steps away from the party talking points and poll-tested language which purposefully confuses more than clarifies. We had one of those moments this week, when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor made it clear that the America he dreams of would abolish Social Security and Medicare. Here?s what he told the right wing Hoover Institution, as reported by NPR:
?So we’ve got to protect today’s seniors. But for the rest of us? For – you know, listen. We’re going to have to come to grips with the fact that these programs cannot exist if we want America to be what we want America to be.? Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)
It?s not really news that GOP leaders are really less interested in ?reforming? Social Security and Medicare than eliminating them; however, politically, it?s certainly unusual for it to be verbalized out loud. The preferred terms of art for those who share Majority Leader Cantor?s views are ?reform?, ?modernize? and ?protect for future generations?. Their cynical political strategy created and articulated as far back as the last major Social Security reforms in the early 80?s, was to ensure current day beneficiaries that they would be protected (the theory being seniors only care about themselves) and deliver the death blows to these programs to future generations who won?t really know what they?re missing ?until it?s too late.But the battle against President Bush?s privatization plan should have shown them that eliminating Social Security might create the kind of America Rep. Cantor dreams of but it?s certainly not the kind of nation working Americans want to bequeath to their children and grandchildren. Every industrial nation in the world provides some form of retirement security for their citizens. Suggesting that America can?t succeed if Social Security exists, ignores 76 years of history which proves just the opposite. America succeeds because Social Security exists. We do not want to turn back the clock to an America requiring poorhouses for our elderly with 50% of the nation?s seniors living in poverty. To an America where children who lose a parent breadwinner have no source of economic support and our nation?s disabled are forced to live institutionalized rather than independently.Our Congressional leaders shouldn?t want that kind of America either.Thankfully some in Congress don?t?Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) and Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) released this reaction tonight to Leader Cantor?s plans for Social Security. It’s clear that these are the members who are now on the front lines of the battle to define just what kind of America working Americans truly want. It’s up to us to ensure they don’t forget it.
Fighting Back Against the Social Security Crisis Campaign
Is it possible Amer
ica?s sleeping giant has finally been awakened? By the looks of today?s Social Security rally on Capitol Hill?the answer is absolutely! Hundreds of seniors, the disabled, survivors and their families crammed into a Senate hearing room to warn Congress ? hands off Social Security. It?s a message that, until now, has been largely ignored here in Washington. The lively crowd was bolstered by members of the Senate Social Security Defenders Caucus, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senators Harkin, Sanders, Franken and Blumenthal. It?s clear these Senators will be on the front lines against the well-financed and media complicit campaign to cut Social Security under the guise of ?fiscal responsibility?. Here?s a sample of their comments to today?s rally crowd:
?We have a serious deficit problem ? we do. But anyone who says Social Security has contributed to the debt is not telling you the truth. Social Security isn?t funded by the US Treasury, it?s funded by the payroll taxes you contributed. If you want to talk about the debt let?s talk about wars and tax cuts for the rich. ? Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)?Wall Street grabbed up our money ? they won, we lost. American families lost $17 trillion ? that?s with a ?t?– in income during this recession but they didn?t lose a penny of their Social Security because we defeated that ridiculous plan to privatize it.? Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)?Social Security provides a safety net for Minnesota families torn apart by unspeakable tragedy and allows America?s retirees to age with dignity. Social Security has nothing to do with reducing the deficit. Social Security benefits should not be cut at all, for anyone, as part of efforts to reduce the deficit.? Sen. Al Franken (D-MN)?The issue isn?t about numbers or even dollars and cents. It?s about promises ? keeping promises. Social Security is a great program. It is an American promise and America is a great nation because we keep our promises. It?s simple–Don?t mess with success because if it ain?t broke don?t fix it. ? Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
For more than a year, Americans have been bombarded with a Washington-based, Wall Street-funded campaign to link our economic mess to Social Security, even though they?re not connected in any way. And while polls consistently show the American people know Social Security did not cause our deficit crisis, inside Washington it?s another story. Today, some outside-the-Beltway reality was delivered by Americans who?ll have to live with the so-called ?shared sacrifice? Washington?s fiscal hawks want to dish out.
?When I hear talk about cutting Social Security along with words like ?fiscal responsibility? I get pretty upset. I?ve been fiscally responsible my whole life and part of that meant paying all those Social Security taxes out of my paychecks. My children who are all in their fifties are fiscally responsible too so why should they or any workers who pay into Social Security not get their full benefits? It?s not responsible to ask hard working Americans to sacrifice a benefit they?ve already paid for and depend on.? Pat Cotten, 70 year-old nurses aide & National Committee member?This is not some abstract debate about can we shave a dollar here or a dollar there ? there are literally lives at stake.? Annie Wadsworth Grove ? Small business owner, Utica, NY?Social Security is vital to Elise? ability to contribute to society. We are so proud of Elise but we need the Congress to know there are real people out there who will suffer if Washington ignores the impact of what they ultimately do.? Joyce Lipman ? Mother of disabled adult, 40 year old Elise?Social security is our money. We paid into the system. The program doesn?t borrow money ? it didn?t cause our deficit. I want the benefit I paid into and earned. This is our money and Social Security works so let?s keep it working.? Terry Moakley, Disabled Retired Veteran, New York ?Only in Washington DC do politicians sitting behind desks and attending meetings think raising the retirement age is a good idea ? come do my job.? Rajini Raj ? Silver Spring Registered Nurse
Senator Reid and Sanders have introduced the Social Security Protection amendment that states,
?Social Security benefits for current and future beneficiaries should not be cut and that Social Security should not be privatized as part of any legislation to reduce the Federal deficit.?
The amendment may be offered this week during the debate on the Small Business Reauthorization Act, which is why we need you to act quickly! Tomorrow is a National Call-in Day sponsored by 300 of the nation?s leading organizations, all working together to preserve and strengthen Social Security. Please, even if you?ve never called your Senator before, take a moment tomorrow and let them know that Social Security is a promise to the American people that Congress must not break. Tell your senators to pass the Sanders/Reid Social Security Amendment.You can use our Toll-Free Legislative Hotline to access your Senators with one simple call.
800-998-0180
Medicare and the Affordable Care Act: Keep Moving Forward
When the Affordable Care Act became law last March, critics predicted doom for the seniors and people with disabilities who rely on Medicare. They said that coverage would disappear, benefits would be cut, and death panels were on their way ? none of which was true. But these lies scared many seniors about the law before it was explained to them.Now, one year later, as the implementation of the law moves forward, Medicare is still sound ? it?s stronger than it was before the law was passed ? and millions of people with Medicare are benefitting from the law.Medicare has gotten serious about cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse. Last year, the Obama administration announced it had recovered $4 billion in Medicare fraud. And the Affordable Care Act provides tools to crack down even further.The Affordable Care Act specifically says that Medicare?s guaranteed benefits ? hospital care, doctors? services, home health services, drug coverage, and more ? are protected. Benefits are as good as ever ? better, in fact. Prescription drugs are more affordable. This year the nearly 4 million beneficiaries who fall into the prescription drug ?doughnut hole? will receive discounts on their drugs. These discounts will increase over the next few years until the doughnut hole is closed.The Affordable Care Act encourages beneficiaries to get the care they need before they get sick. Now, the more than 44 million people with Medicare can get an annual wellness visit or needed screenings for diabetes or cancers without having to pay a co-pay. Early detection and treatment not only saves money but it saves lives. The new law ends Medicare overpayments to insurance companies and rewards those that provide high quality care. But as these changes are phasing in starting this year, beneficiaries still have a wide range of plans to choose from.States have new options to let seniors and people with disabilities stay in their homes rather than having to move to a nursing home when they need help. And in the coming years, thanks to the new law, Medicare will lead the way to better coordinated patient care that should improve the quality of care while reducing costs.But there is a threat out there. The new leadership of the House of Representatives has dedicated itself to repealing the Affordable Care Act. This would undo all of these improvements. Fraud-fighting tools, coverage in the doughnut hole, free preventive care, better coordinated care, and the chance to stay in your own home would all be gone.Even worse is their alternative. Some proposals call for increasing out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries ? something the Affordable Care Act does not do. Representative Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, has a more detailed plan he calls a ?roadmap.? He calls for jaw-dropping cuts to the program, including raising the eligibility age to 69, slashing Medicare over time by 76 percent, and replacing the program with a cash voucher that would shift most of the cost of health care to individuals. This plan would be devastating both to current beneficiaries and to today?s working families who are counting on the Medicare program they pay into to protect them from unaffordable health care costs when they retire.Representative Ryan leads the House committee responsible for producing a budget. But his roadmap leads us backwards to a period when our most vulnerable were forced to choose between health care costs and other necessities like food and shelter. We reject this vision, and we hope Congress does too. A year ago, we passed the Affordable Care Act to strengthen and improve Medicare for current and future generations. Let?s keep moving forward on that path.
GOP Plan is “Coupon Care” for Seniors
Congressman Xavier Becerra is one of Washington?s most ardent supporters of Social Security and Medicare. As a member of the President?s Fiscal Commission (he voted against the destructive Bowles-Simpson plan) and ranking member of the Social Security Subcommittee he is one of seniors? ?good guys? on Capitol Hill. Today he offered this frank assessment of what the GOP Budget plan proposes for middle-class America and seniors especially:?This isn?t a fiscal document this is a roadmap to poverty for middle-class Americans. This is a manifesto of GOP goals since the days of Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. Republicans have drained our surpluses and depleted our resources to convince the public that we must now shrink government.”?This is it ? this is the real deal. The fight for our future is on. It?s time to put our battle armor back on and arm up with the weapons we need ? the facts and the true stories about what these vital programs really mean to our nation.?Becerra met with members of the nation?s largest Aging Coalition, the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations, today and described in detail how the GOP Budget would destroy Medicare, replacing it with little more than ?coupon care?. The Congressional Budget Office analysis shows seniors will pay much more for their healthcare ? which is no longer guaranteed by the government and instead managed by private insurance companies. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research?seniors won?t be paying just a little more, they?ll face $20,000 in additional healthcare costs under the GOP Budget plan??According to the CBO analysis the benefit would cover 32 percent of the cost of a health insurance package equivalent to the current Medicare benefit (Figure 1). This means that the beneficiary would pay 68 percent of the cost of this package. Using the CBO assumption of 2.5 percent annual inflation, the voucher would have grown to $9,750 by 2030. This means that a Medicare type plan for someone age 65 would be $30,460 under Representative Ryan’s plan, leaving seniors with a bill of $20,700. (This does not count various out of pocket medical expenditures not covered by Medicare.)?The GOP?s ?Coupon Care? plan for seniors replaces Medicare with a privatized system that gives insurance companies federal dollars to provide less care. Washington Monthly summed it up best:?I’d just add that some folks may have forgotten why Medicare was created in the first place. The nature of the human body is that ailments are more common as we get older, and profit-seeking insurance companies weren’t keen on covering those who cost so much more to cover. On average, folks who’ve lived more than six decades often have pre-existing conditions, and we know all too well what insurers think of those with pre-existing conditions. Seniors relied on this system for many years, but it didn’t work. We created Medicare because relying on private insurers didn’t work. And now Republicans want to roll back the clock.?
A Path to Prosperity-Unless you’re under 55, or poor, or widowed, or disabled, or a child who lost a parent, or middle class or have anyone in your family who is or ever will be
It?s clear GOP Budget Chairman Paul Ryan?s ?Path to Prosperity? budget plan is anything but for the vast majority of working Americans. The alleged core value of ?shared sacrifice? actually means sacrifice for everyone except corporations (especially insurers) and wealthy Americans. The House GOP leadership?s dream for America couldn?t be more clearly defined than in the budget plan unveiled today. More tax breaks for the wealthy and budget cuts for everyone else.For Americans who depend on Social Security and Medicare, this budget plan says ?tough luck?. For corporations that want even more tax loopholes and insurers who?d love the government to pay them to provide seniors less coverage at a higher cost, this budget is truly a dream come true. For working Americans; however, this budget is their worst nightmare. That?s the message we delivered today at a Capitol Hill news conference led by Families USA :?The Medicare provisions, in particular, will send this nation back to a time before Medicare was enacted, when over one-half of the senior population had no health care coverage at all. The Ryan plan would replace the current Medicare program with vouchers and leave seniors and the disabled ? some of our most vulnerable Americans ? hostage to the whims of the private marketplace. Over time, this will destroy the only health insurance program available to 47 million Americans. Vouchers are designed not to keep up with the increasing cost of health insurance? that is why they save money. Destroying Medicare and leaving millions of Americans without adequate health coverage is not a path to prosperity for anyone except for-profit insurers and the American people understand that.? Max Richtman, NCPSSM Executive Vice PresidentThat?s why nearly 100,000 National Committee members have signed letters to their representatives on Capitol Hill reminding them that cutting Social Security and Medicare is not the answer to our budget woes. Those letters have been delivered to Congress today with a clear message:?Social Security and Medicare belong to the American people who have paid (and are paying) into these programs in exchange for promised benefits. I urge you to reject any deficit reduction plans that cut benefits and, instead, support only those proposals that ensure the viability of Social Security and Medicare.?Here is just some of what the GOP budget plan would do:
- Eliminate Medicare and replace it with a privatized system where seniors get vouchers (however, Ryan?s new poll-tested language is now ?premium assistance payments?) to pay for health care. In truth, we prefer to call them ?coupons? since they really offer about that much assistance because the whole idea is that the voucher will never actually cover the true costs of healthcare. That?s where the government saves money. Under this scheme, taxpayers will pay insurers to provide less coverage while beneficiaries pick up more of the tab. Congressional Quarterly describes it this way:
?The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reviewed an earlier version of the plan and found it probably would lead to increased costs or reduced benefits for beneficiaries. ?First, most of the savings for Medicare under the proposal stem from reducing the amounts that the federal government would pay for enrollees on a per capita basis,? according to the CBO?s Nov. 17 analysis. ?Second, future beneficiaries would probably face higher premiums in the private market for a package of benefits similar to that currently provided by Medicare.?
- Social Security reforms will be fast-tracked. While the legislative language of Ryan?s plan doesn?t propose specific cuts (allowing them to claim ?we?re not cutting Social Security? before an election year) this legislation does create a new triggering mechanism and fast-tracked process for Social Security cuts which is unprecedented in the history of Congressional budget resolutions. The trigger language in this bill is designed to circumvent the current process in order to mandate fast-tracked reforms through Congress. And since this bill?s summary also rules out revenue changes, such as the most popular option for Social Security reform, raising the payroll tax cap so that the wealthier pay their fair share, what?s left? Benefit cuts. In fact, the Ryan plan?s summary endorses cutting future Social Security benefits for everyone who is earning more than $22,000 a year right now (while they?re working) ? which is the vast majority of Americans.
- Social Security Administration cuts. This budget also assumes a continuation of GOP budget proposals which undermine Social Security by cutting its administrative budget so deep that the SSA can?t process claims in a timely way to serve the public.
- Won?t pay back the Trust Fund. Rep. Ryan?s budget summary denies the federal government?s responsibility to repay the $2.6 trillion Social Security trust fund, built up by payroll contributions from generations of working Americans. This Budget plan states: ?Any value in the balances in the Social Security trust fund is derived from dubious government accounting.?
In other words, it was real money when you paid it into the Trust Fund but now House GOP leaders have declared those dollars just ?dubious government accounting.? Speaking of dubious accounting, some are already raising the red flag on this plan?s manipulation of the numbers.Make no mistake about it, House Republican leaders intend to use the current fiscal crisis, created by decades of borrow and spend policies to justify slashing programs which touch the lives of virtually every American family.This isn?t fiscal responsibility.But it does show just how large the disconnect between House Republican leaders and working Americans truly is because the American people will not support dismantling Medicare or cuts in Social Security. These are not the priorities seniors voted for last November and now?s the time to deliver that message.Take a moment and use our Legislative Action Center to send an email to your members of Congress. It?s easy and all you need to know is your zipcode. We must let Washington know Paul Ryan?s priorities are not America?s priorities.
GOP House Leader Wishes for an America without Social Security
Every once in awhile?and honestly, it doesn?t happen that often here in Washington?a politician says exactly what he thinks. He/she steps away from the party talking points and poll-tested language which purposefully confuses more than clarifies. We had one of those moments this week, when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor made it clear that the America he dreams of would abolish Social Security and Medicare. Here?s what he told the right wing Hoover Institution, as reported by NPR:
?So we’ve got to protect today’s seniors. But for the rest of us? For – you know, listen. We’re going to have to come to grips with the fact that these programs cannot exist if we want America to be what we want America to be.? Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)
It?s not really news that GOP leaders are really less interested in ?reforming? Social Security and Medicare than eliminating them; however, politically, it?s certainly unusual for it to be verbalized out loud. The preferred terms of art for those who share Majority Leader Cantor?s views are ?reform?, ?modernize? and ?protect for future generations?. Their cynical political strategy created and articulated as far back as the last major Social Security reforms in the early 80?s, was to ensure current day beneficiaries that they would be protected (the theory being seniors only care about themselves) and deliver the death blows to these programs to future generations who won?t really know what they?re missing ?until it?s too late.But the battle against President Bush?s privatization plan should have shown them that eliminating Social Security might create the kind of America Rep. Cantor dreams of but it?s certainly not the kind of nation working Americans want to bequeath to their children and grandchildren. Every industrial nation in the world provides some form of retirement security for their citizens. Suggesting that America can?t succeed if Social Security exists, ignores 76 years of history which proves just the opposite. America succeeds because Social Security exists. We do not want to turn back the clock to an America requiring poorhouses for our elderly with 50% of the nation?s seniors living in poverty. To an America where children who lose a parent breadwinner have no source of economic support and our nation?s disabled are forced to live institutionalized rather than independently.Our Congressional leaders shouldn?t want that kind of America either.Thankfully some in Congress don?t?Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) and Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) released this reaction tonight to Leader Cantor?s plans for Social Security. It’s clear that these are the members who are now on the front lines of the battle to define just what kind of America working Americans truly want. It’s up to us to ensure they don’t forget it.
Fighting Back Against the Social Security Crisis Campaign
Is it possible America?s sleeping giant has finally been awakened? By the looks of today?s Social Security rally on Capitol Hill?the answer is absolutely! Hundreds of seniors, the disabled, survivors and their families crammed into a Senate hearing room to warn Congress ? hands off Social Security. It?s a message that, until now, has been largely ignored here in Washington. The lively crowd was bolstered by members of the Senate Social Security Defenders Caucus, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senators Harkin, Sanders, Franken and Blumenthal. It?s clear these Senators will be on the front lines against the well-financed and media complicit campaign to cut Social Security under the guise of ?fiscal responsibility?. Here?s a sample of their comments to today?s rally crowd:
?We have a serious deficit problem ? we do. But anyone who says Social Security has contributed to the debt is not telling you the truth. Social Security isn?t funded by the US Treasury, it?s funded by the payroll taxes you contributed. If you want to talk about the debt let?s talk about wars and tax cuts for the rich. ? Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)?Wall Street grabbed up our money ? they won, we lost. American families lost $17 trillion ? that?s with a ?t?– in income during this recession but they didn?t lose a penny of their Social Security because we defeated that ridiculous plan to privatize it.? Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)?Social Security provides a safety net for Minnesota families torn apart by unspeakable tragedy and allows America?s retirees to age with dignity. Social Security has nothing to do with reducing the deficit. Social Security benefits should not be cut at all, for anyone, as part of efforts to reduce the deficit.? Sen. Al Franken (D-MN)?The issue isn?t about numbers or even dollars and cents. It?s about promises ? keeping promises. Social Security is a great program. It is an American promise and America is a great nation because we keep our promises. It?s simple–Don?t mess with success because if it ain?t broke don?t fix it. ? Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
For more than a year, Americans have been bombarded with a Washington-based, Wall Street-funded campaign to link our economic mess to Social Security, even though they?re not connected in any way. And while polls consistently show the American people know Social Security did not cause our deficit crisis, inside Washington it?s another story. Today, some outside-the-Beltway reality was delivered by Americans who?ll have to live with the so-called ?shared sacrifice? Washington?s fiscal hawks want to dish out.
?When I hear talk about cutting Social Security along with words like ?fiscal responsibility? I get pretty upset. I?ve been fiscally responsible my whole life and part of that meant paying all those Social Security taxes out of my paychecks. My children who are all in their fifties are fiscally responsible too so why should they or any workers who pay into Social Security not get their full benefits? It?s not responsible to ask hard working Americans to sacrifice a benefit they?ve already paid for and depend on.? Pat Cotten, 70 year-old nurses aide & National Committee member?This is not some abstract debate about can we shave a dollar here or a dollar there ? there are literally lives at stake.? Annie Wadsworth Grove ? Small business owner, Utica, NY?Social Security is vital to Elise? ability to contribute to society. We are so proud of Elise but we need the Congress to know there are real people out there who will suffer if Washington ignores the impact of what they ultimately do.? Joyce Lipman ? Mother of disabled adult, 40 year old Elise?Social security is our money. We paid into the system. The program doesn?t borrow money ? it didn?t cause our deficit. I want the benefit I paid into and earned. This is our money and Social Security works so let?s keep it working.? Terry Moakley, Disabled Retired Veteran, New York ?Only in Washington DC do politicians sitting behind desks and attending meetings think raising the retirement age is a good idea ? come do my job.? Rajini Raj ? Silver Spring Registered Nurse
Senator Reid and Sanders have introduced the Social Security Protection amendment that states,
?Social Security benefits for current and future beneficiaries should not be cut and that Social Security should not be privatized as part of any legislation to reduce the Federal deficit.?
The amendment may be offered this week during the debate on the Small Business Reauthorization Act, which is why we need you to act quickly! Tomorrow is a National Call-in Day sponsored by 300 of the nation?s leading organizations, all working together to preserve and strengthen Social Security. Please, even if you?ve never called your Senator before, take a moment tomorrow and let them know that Social Security is a promise to the American people that Congress must not break. Tell your senators to pass the Sanders/Reid Social Security Amendment.You can use our Toll-Free Legislative Hotline to access your Senators with one simple call.
800-998-0180
Medicare and the Affordable Care Act: Keep Moving Forward
When the Affordable Care Act became law last March, critics predicted doom for the seniors and people with disabilities who rely on Medicare. They said that coverage would disappear, benefits would be cut, and death panels were on their way ? none of which was true. But these lies scared many seniors about the law before it was explained to them.Now, one year later, as the implementation of the law moves forward, Medicare is still sound ? it?s stronger than it was before the law was passed ? and millions of people with Medicare are benefitting from the law.Medicare has gotten serious about cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse. Last year, the Obama administration announced it had recovered $4 billion in Medicare fraud. And the Affordable Care Act provides tools to crack down even further.The Affordable Care Act specifically says that Medicare?s guaranteed benefits ? hospital care, doctors? services, home health services, drug coverage, and more ? are protected. Benefits are as good as ever ? better, in fact. Prescription drugs are more affordable. This year the nearly 4 million beneficiaries who fall into the prescription drug ?doughnut hole? will receive discounts on their drugs. These discounts will increase over the next few years until the doughnut hole is closed.The Affordable Care Act encourages beneficiaries to get the care they need before they get sick. Now, the more than 44 million people with Medicare can get an annual wellness visit or needed screenings for diabetes or cancers without having to pay a co-pay. Early detection and treatment not only saves money but it saves lives. The new law ends Medicare overpayments to insurance companies and rewards those that provide high quality care. But as these changes are phasing in starting this year, beneficiaries still have a wide range of plans to choose from.States have new options to let seniors and people with disabilities stay in their homes rather than having to move to a nursing home when they need help. And in the coming years, thanks to the new law, Medicare will lead the way to better coordinated patient care that should improve the quality of care while reducing costs.But there is a threat out there. The new leadership of the House of Representatives has dedicated itself to repealing the Affordable Care Act. This would undo all of these improvements. Fraud-fighting tools, coverage in the doughnut hole, free preventive care, better coordinated care, and the chance to stay in your own home would all be gone.Even worse is their alternative. Some proposals call for increasing out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries ? something the Affordable Care Act does not do. Representative Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, has a more detailed plan he calls a ?roadmap.? He calls for jaw-dropping cuts to the program, including raising the eligibility age to 69, slashing Medicare over time by 76 percent, and replacing the program with a cash voucher that would shift most of the cost of health care to individuals. This plan would be devastating both to current beneficiaries and to today?s working families who are counting on the Medicare program they pay into to protect them from unaffordable health care costs when they retire.Representative Ryan leads the House committee responsible for producing a budget. But his roadmap leads us backwards to a period when our most vulnerable were forced to choose between health care costs and other necessities like food and shelter. We reject this vision, and we hope Congress does too. A year ago, we passed the Affordable Care Act to strengthen and improve Medicare for current and future generations. Let?s keep moving forward on that path.