39 Years of Fighting — and Winning — on Your Behalf!
Chances are, if not for the efforts of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, the benefits you depend on today might be greatly reduced. Here are just some of our accomplishments … none of which would have been possible without the support of individual donors like you.
2022
We helped pass a historic bill to allow Medicare to negotiate the price of certain prescription drugs for the first time ever and that caps Medicare Part D beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 per year.
2021
We helped ensure seniors received an additional economic boost as part of the “American Rescue Plan Act,” which also invested more than $4 billion to help strengthen critical programs for older adults.
We raised the opposition to the “TRUST Act,” which would establish so-called “Rescue Committees” for Social Security and Medicare and set up these programs for massive cuts in the future to pay down budget deficits.
2020
We helped ensure seniors received automatic cash payments and expanded Medicare benefits as part of the final CARES Act passed by Congress in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
2019
We launched a nationwide education campaign, Delay & Gain, for older workers nearing retirement to help them understand how they can maximize their Social Security benefits. We also helped pass the “Lower Drug Costs Now Act” (H.R. 3) to reduce seniors’ drug expenses.
2018
We helped restore vital funding to the Social Security Administration, which will help keep field offices open and improve valuable customer service. We also fought to stop a dangerous Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would have required deep cuts to earned benefits.
2017
Held the line on Trumpcare. This legislation would have weakened Medicare, left millions uninsured and drastically raised premiums for older Americans.
2016
We fought to pass the “Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act,” legislation which sustains programs such as Meals on Wheels and enables older adults to remain as independent as possible for as long as possible.
2015
We protected seniors from identity theft by supporting legislation, which is now law, to remove Social Security numbers from Medicare cards. We also prevented a steep Social Security benefit cut and Medicare premium increase in the budget deal passed by Congress.
2014-2018
We helped win the battle to save traditional Medicare instead of privatizing it.
2014
The National Committee launched an historic national campaign to boost Social Security benefits and address America’s growing retirement crisis. Thanks to the grassroots support of our members, the “Strengthening Social Security Act” received tremendous support and momentum continues to build inside and outside the halls of Congress to reverse course on the single-minded quest to cut Social Security benefits.
NCPSSM helped win the battle to save traditional Medicare from the House Budget Committee Chairman’s dangerous proposal to privatize the program. The GOP/Ryan “CouponCare” plan would put traditional Medicare on a death spiral, leaving seniors at the mercy of private insurers. It would make it harder to choose your own doctor while raising senior’s cost and cutting prescription drug, preventive care and nursing home benefits. We helped stop this dangerous proposal for the past four years in a row.
2013
A year of fiscal crises repeatedly threatened benefit cuts to Social Security and Medicare. The National Committee successfully prevented a Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) cut and an increase in the Medicare eligibility age from being written into the fiscal cliff bill. We also defeated efforts to continue the two-year-old Social Security payroll tax holiday that was undermining the Social Security system.
The National Committee launched a nationwide pilot to inform America’s same sex couples of their new rights to Social Security benefits after the Supreme Court’s Defense of Marriage Act decision in 2012.
Joining with other advocates, we delivered more than 2 million petitions to the White House protesting President Obama’s plan to cut Social Security benefits through the Chained CPI.
2012
NCPSSM President/CEO, Max Richtman, met with President Obama and other national leaders at the White House to talk about fiscal challenges facing the nation. He urged the President to preserve Social Security and Medicare benefits in ongoing budget debates.
We stopped a proposal to increase Medicare premiums from becoming part of legislation to extend the Social Security payroll tax holiday.
2011
The Congressional “Super Committee” hoped to solve the federal debt crisis by cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, but thanks to our lobbying efforts, a national ad campaign and the work of our grassroots activists, the Super Committee adjourned without reaching consensus on any plan to cut benefits.
The National Committee helped win the battle to save traditional Medicare from the House Budget Committee Chairman’s dangerous proposal to privatize the program. Privatization benefits insurance companies at your expense, making it harder for seniors to choose their own doctor while cutting prescription drug, preventive care and nursing home benefits.
For the third time in over a decade, we successfully protected Social Security and Medicare funds from being cut by a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment. Your signed petitions and letters along with our grassroots opposition helped turn the tide against this harmful amendment.
The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare launched the largest grassroots mobilization and media campaign in its long history of defending programs vital to millions of Americans. Millions of Americans engaged Congress and we successfully fought back against benefits cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
2010
We fought to improve Medicare as part of the Affordable Care Act.
2009
Seniors received stimulus checks as part of the federal stimulus plan thanks to our successful lobbying efforts. The initial proposal for the Recovery and Reinvestment Act targeted all workers, but excluded non-employed seniors. Seniors were included in the final bill. This time seniors were not required to complete any IRS filings and automatically received checks.
2008
We led the battle to stop an arbitrary 45 percent cap on the government’s funding of Medicare, a backdoor way of cutting benefits.
2007
NCPSSM lobbied Congress to strengthen Medicare. The House ultimately passed legislation strengthening Medicare for future generations and correcting many of the flaws in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003.
We fought against harmful budget cuts at the Social Security Administration (SSA) and ultimately convinced Congress to increase funding levels and thereby prevent massive furloughs at the SSA. Those increased funds averted office closures all over the nation in 2007. After continued intense lobbying, Congress approved funding for Fiscal Year 2008 at $451 million over the previous year’s level, helping speed up disability reviews.
2005 & 2006
We stopped the privatization of Social Security.
2005
NCPSSM launched an aggressive campaign to protect Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) from soaring Medicare out-of-pocket costs. Under the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, annual increases in Medicare deductibles have joined premiums in being indexed to rising health care inflation, and out-of-pocket costs will eventually consume nearly half of the average Social Security benefit check. Our campaign was successful in bringing Congress’ attention to this critical and growing issue, but we need to fight even harder to push Congress to take corrective action.
2004
Overwhelming grassroots support from National Committee activists helped save Social Security funds from being cut under a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment. With appeals from 1.4 million National Committee members and supporters, the Constitutional Amendment was pulled from consideration before a scheduled vote in the House Judiciary Committee!
2003
Millions of NCPSSM volunteers fought to prevent the full privatization of Medicare by helping defeat a dangerous House bill creating a Medicare voucher system. The misguided Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 was passed in its place and we continue the fight to fix that flawed legislation. To date, millions of our members have signed letters and petitions to Congress urging immediate, “corrective” Medicare bills to make prescription drugs affordable and available to all seniors.
2000
For seniors who have reached ‘normal retirement age,’ the National Committee was instrumental in earning the unlimited right to work without losing some of their Social Security benefits. In large part because of our efforts, the Senior Citizens’ Freedom to Work Act was passed and signed into law on April 7, 2000.
NCPSSM proudly coordinated a coalition of senior organizations’ efforts to reauthorize the Older Americans Act (OAA), ensuring continued funding for a variety of state and local programs, including meals programs, in-home support services, pension counseling programs and jobs programs for seniors. We were successful in getting this program reauthorized again in 2006.