Biden’s Choice for CMS Director a Welcome Change for Post-Trump Era
President Biden has made his choice for a key administration official. Today, he named Chiquita Brooks-LaSure as Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency with sweeping jurisdiction over health policy affecting seniors, workers with disabilities, and their families. If confirmed by the Senate, Brooks-LaSure will be the first African-American woman to hold that post.
CMS director-designate Chiquita Brooks-LaSure
Brooks-LaSure, a former Obama administration healthcare policy official, will replace President Trump’s CMS chief, Seema Verma, who left the job when Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20th. Verma – a corporatist conservative idealogue – spent four years undermining traditional Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. Her actions in office also came under scrutiny by the HHS Inspector General for her “use of outside consultants to perform inherently governmental functions,” including burnishing her own image.
As President Biden’s designated CMS director, Brooks-LaSure represents a welcome change, with a solid background in Democratic health policy circles:
“[She] has a long track record in government, having held health policy jobs at the White House, in Congress, and at CMS during the Obama administration. Most recently she led the Biden transition’s ‘landing team’ for the Department of Health and Human Services, laying the groundwork for the new administration.” – Associated Press, 2/18/21
She appears very much in sync with President Biden’s healthcare priorities. The Associated Press reports that Brooks-LaSure is expected to increase Obamacare enrollment and “persuade holdout states to adopt Medicaid expansion.”
According to the Washington Post, Brooks-LaSure was “championed by allies on Capitol Hill, including the Congressional Black Caucus.” She no doubt will be a powerful advocate for President Biden’s legislative efforts to boost health care access – especially for older Americans. President Biden campaigned on a platform of expanding not only Medicaid, but Medicare – a key goal for the National Committee and our members and supporters across the country.
One of Brooks-LaSure’s early challenges will be reversing some of the most insidious Trump administration healthcare policies. The Biden administration already is off to a good start. On February 12th, CMS sent letters to several states, rescinding Trump administration waivers allowing Medicaid work requirements. Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik celebrated the end of this mean-spirited Trump policy, pointing out that forcing Medicaid patients to work is unfair and contrary to the program’s mission. In a column aptly titled, Goodbye to those stupid, useless and biased Medicaid work requirements, Hiltzik writes:
“Healthcare experts warned from the inception that work requirements would throw thousands of people off Medicaid, wouldn’t increase employment, would be expensive to administer, would probably be ruled illegal and were unnecessary. They were right on all counts.” – Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 2/17/21
We also hope that Brooks-LaSure will steer CMS in the opposite direction in its public outreach for Medicare Open Enrollment. Trump’s CMS showed blatant bias toward private Medicare Advantage plans, especially in its annual enrollment materials. We look to Biden’s CMS chief to ensure that enrollees receive balanced information about their Medicare options.
Between undoing Trump administration policies and implementing President Biden’s proposals, there are myriad challenges facing the new CMS director. Fortunately, Brooks-LaSure brings to the job her leadership skills, policy chops, and a fresh perspective as the first black woman to helm CMS.
*************************************************
View the National Committee’s 2021 Legislative Agenda.
COVID Relief Package Should be a Relief for Seniors
President Biden’s COVID $1.9 trillion relief package should be a relief to seniors, who stand to benefit from some of its key provisions. On Friday morning, the Senate passed a budget resolution (51-50, with Vice President Harris breaking the tie) launching the COVID package on its journey through the budget reconciliation process. A few hours later, the House adopted a budget blueprint with instructions for congressional committees drafting relief legislation.
By using the reconciliation process, the Democrats’ final bill can pass the Senate with no risk of a Republican filibuster – placing it on a fairly straight path to the President’s desk for signature. Democrats say they would like the relief package to be enacted no later than mid-March, when enhanced unemployment benefits expire.
The COVID package will contain billions of dollars for vaccine distribution. That should be welcome news for seniors, many of whom are still awaiting vaccination due to shortages and inefficiencies in the distribution process. As NPR reports:
“With millions of older Americans eligible for COVID-19 vaccines and limited supplies, many continue to describe a frantic and frustrating search to secure a shot, beset by uncertainty and difficulty.” – NPR, 2/4/21
The relief package also includes $1,400 stimulus payments (in addition to the $600 in the previous legislation). The extra money should help eligible older Americans on fixed incomes struggling to stay financially afloat during the pandemic.
There also is good news for the Medicaid program, which pays for the lion’s share of seniors’ long term care services and supports. The COVID relief package extends an additional 6.2% in federal Medicaid matching funds contained in last year’s bill through the end of 2021.
The proposed package contains $9 billion in dedicated Medicaid funds for home and community-based care. We and other seniors’ organizations encourage elder care outside of nursing homes in favor of home and community settings, which can offer better physical and mental health outcomes for older patients.
“Home and community-based care is significantly less costly than nursing home care. What’s more, seniors are more likely to thrive when they are able to remain in their homes and communities — with familiar surroundings and more frequent interactions with friends and family.” – National Committee president and CEO Max Richtman, 7/13/20
The legislation now being shaped on Capitol Hill also will include several hundred billion dollars in aid for state and local governments. That’s good for seniors as state and local governments expend money on their behalf, including Older Americans Act programs. Seniors also stand to benefit from the infusion of federal funds that states and localities may use for everything from Medicaid to police and fire services.
President Biden pledges not to budge on amount of $1,400 stimulus payments
President Biden’s relief plan featured a $15 per hour federal minimum wage, which would boost the income of seniors working in retail and service jobs. However, it’s not yet clear that the minimum wage provision meets rules governing the reconciliation process – or whether it will garner enough Democratic votes to pass the Senate.
COVID relief legislation will no doubt undergo changes as it moves through committees and onto the floor of each house of Congress. President Biden has so far stood firm against Republican attempts to reduce the $1.9 trillion price tag, but has signaled flexibility on precisely who is eligible for stimulus payments. The President said on Friday that he will not budge on the $1,400 stimulus payment amount, and pledged to get “money directly in people’s pockets” who need it most.
Biden Admin Begins Removing Malignant Trump-Era Rules
The new Biden administration has begun the arduous process of rescinding Trump-era rules harming the disabled and seniors. President Trump and his appointees spent four years undermining the health and financial security of some of society’s most vulnerable members. While they failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act and were not successful in slashing budgets for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Trump officials utilized executive power to achieve their ideological ends. Simply stated, the goal was to cut spending and resources for social insurance and safety net programs while enriching the private sector wherever possible.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Social Security Administration were at the forefront of these efforts. Now under the Biden administration’s control, CMS began this week to roll back healthcare rules negatively affecting Medicare that originated under Trump.
“The withdrawn rules come after President Joe Biden’s Chief of Staff Ronald Klain ordered a freeze on new or pending rules issued by the Trump administration. The freeze prevents the departments and agencies from implementing the rules until the Biden administration has had a chance to review them.” – Becker’s Hospital CFO Report, 1/26/21
The Biden administration has its work cut out for it. Not only did the Trump administration meddle with Medicare, it effectuated onerous work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries, and championed block grants which could cause millions of patients to lose coverage. As we wrote in this space earlier this month:
“Medicaid has been fulfilling its mission since it was signed into law 55 years ago. Health care advocates (and seniors’ advocates) know that if something’s not broken, it doesn’t need to be fixed. But corporatist politicians can’t seem to tolerate the government spending money to care for low-income Americans and seniors.” – Entitled to Know, 1/15/21
President Biden also has already started rolling back pernicious policies from Trump’s Social Security Administration (SSA) that were designed to make it more difficult for disabled workers to claim – and retain – SSDI benefits.
SSA Commissioner Andrew Saul, former board member of a conservative think tank, is a holdover from the Trump administration
One of the next agenda items for Biden’s team is to reverse another Trump-era rule that sought so strip power from career administrative law judges (ALJs) in deciding Social Security Disability Insurance claim disputes, giving political appointees greater influence in the process.
“This unprecedented move, which may well be illegal, would effectively deny due process to people who have a right to these benefits by allowing political appointees to manipulate the adjudication of claims.” – Mark J. Stern, Slate magazine, 1/27/2021
Meanwhile, there is growing pressure for President Biden to remove Trump’s appointed Social Security Commissioner, Andrew Saul, whose term isn’t set to expire until 2025. As Slate reported on Wednesday, many seniors’ advocates believe that Saul (a former board member of the right-wing Manhattan Institute) will continue to undermine Social Security if allowed to continue as commissioner.
Reversing four years of Trump administration sabotage will take time. Undoing regulatory rules and executive orders can be a long and drawn-out process. But, like any malignancy, they must be removed. President Biden, who during the campaign called Social Security and Medicare “sacred obligations,” is off to a good start.
Biden Must Reverse Trump’s Assault on Social Security
President Biden has inherited a Social Security program that is on a weaker footing than when Donald Trump took office. But the new President has pledged to strengthen and expand the program – both by working with Congress and through executive action. In fact, President Biden is well positioned to safeguard one of the landmark achievements of one of his most prominent Democratic predecessors, Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose son, Congressman James Roosevelt, Sr., founded our organization.
FDR’s grandson said it best when we endorsed President Biden last fall:
“Joe Biden has a record over four decades of being a strong supporter of Social Security. He was a strong voice in the Senate for the needs of seniors and it’s clear that the proposals that Biden and Harris are offering demonstrate a clear understanding of American seniors’ needs.” – James Roosevelt, Jr., vice-chair, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare advisory board
As if Americans needed a reminder of how crucial Social Security is, the pandemic – which disproportionately impacted seniors – has underlined its importance. Social Security is there for eligible older workers who lose their jobs or are forced to retire early by sickness or disability. It is there as a financial lifeline for retirees, who face higher medical expenses or loss of other income during the pandemic. It is there for families of workers when they become disabled, or pass away.
Despite promising to protect the program, former President Trump proposed slashing Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) by tens of billions of dollars in each of his annual budgets. The administration issued new rules erecting obstacles for disabled workers seeking to claim or retain benefits. The Social Security Administration even tried to politicize the adjudication of SSDI cases. The Biden administration will try to roll back these pernicious rules, but it may be a long and complex process.
The Trump administration issued rules making it harder for disabled workers to collect Social Security
Last August, President Trump interfered with Social Security’s main funding stream by issuing a reckless executive order deferring workers’ Social Security payroll taxes. Not only was the order economically ineffective; those workers (mostly federal employees) must now repay those deferred payroll taxes. In pursuing this policy, Trump tampered with the “earned benefit” nature of Social Security, which is funded by the payroll taxes that Americans contribute during their working lives.
Trump and Congressional Republicans failed to embrace commonsense proposals to increase Social Security’s revenue (without benefit cuts), setting the program on a sound financial course for the future. Before the pandemic, Social Security’s trust fund was projected to become exhausted by 2035, if Congress takes no pre-emptive action. Now, the COVID recession may hasten the trust funds’ insolvency date.
Conservatives remain fixated on the false assumption that Social Security drives the federal debt, and even proposed cutting ‘entitlements’ after enacting the 2017 tax windfall for the wealthy and big corporations, which swelled the deficit by some $2 trillion. The conservatives’ solution for “reforming” Social Security is to slash benefits for future seniors, who will rely on their benefits more than previous generations.
Rep. John Larson’s Social Security 2100 Act overlaps with many of President Biden’s proposals
We endorsed President Biden because of his commitment to seniors and their earned benefits. During the campaign, he called Social Security and Medicare “sacred obligations” and offered a commonsense list of Social Security proposals which the National Committee supports, including:
*Adjusting the Social Security payroll wage cap so that the wealthy pay their fair share.
*Providing the oldest beneficiaries – those who have been receiving retirement benefits for at least 20 years– with a higher monthly check.
*Giving eligible workers a guaranteed minimum benefit equal to at least 125% of the federal poverty level.
*Raising monthly benefits for widows and widowers by some 20%.
There is significant overlap between President Biden’s proposals and Rep. John Larson’s Social Security 2100 Act, which we fully endorse. Passing ambitious Social Security improvements may prove difficult in the Senate, where Democrats hold the slimmest of majorities.
We trust that President Biden and Social Security champions in Congress will continue to fight to strengthen and expand the program, leveraging the energy of seniors and their advocates, including the National Committee’s millions of members and supporters.
Trump Administration Couldn’t Resist Taking Parting Shots at Medicaid on Its Way Out
None of the programs that provide seniors with financial and health security are better off after four years of the Trump Administration. President Trump and his minions have undermined Social Security and traditional Medicare, and have left both programs in worse fiscal shape than when he took office. Medicaid has fared just as badly – or maybe worse – a target of the corporate, ideological conservatives entrusted with administering the program. Now, as the Los Angeles Times’ Michael Hiltzik reports, the Trump administration is taking parting shots at Medicaid on its way out of office.
Medicaid not only provides crucial health coverage to low-income Americans; it pays the lion’s share of long-term care services and supports for impoverished seniors. Without Medicaid, millions of seniors could not afford skilled nursing care – whether in institutions or in home/community care settings. Medicaid also ensures that financially challenged ‘near seniors’ (age 55+) can access affordable health care before they enter the Medicare program at age 65.
Medicaid pays more than half off the costs of all long-term care services and supports
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), under its director Seema Verma, apparently don’t believe in Medicaid’s core mission – a commitment by the federal government and the states to ensure society’s that least fortunate receive health care. In fact, Verma and her fellow ideologues have sought to weaken Medicaid through work requirements and experiments with block grants.
As Hiltzik observed in Thursday’s Los Angeles Times:
“Medicaid is second to none among government programs in the hostility it has attracted from the Trump administration. Virtually since Trump’s inauguration, he has taken steps aimed at throwing tens of thousands of Americans off the Medicaid rolls.” – Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 1/14/21
Last fall, the administration approved work requirements for Medicaid in Georgia and Nebraska. Work requirements – a pet project of conservatives, including CMS administrator Seems Verma – have nothing to do with Medicaid’s mission, which is to provide health coverage for lower-income citizens who can’t afford it.
Contrary to the administration’s claims, work requirements impose unreasonable burdens on beneficiaries. As Hiltzik points out, work requirements “don’t reduce joblessness and they don’t improve people’s health.” Lower courts have already overturned such rules, but the Supreme Court will consider work requirements this term – which has health care advocates “scratching their heads.”
The administration has also championed block grants to the states for Medicaid, another policy idea promulgated by conservatives. Currently, the federal government matches state spending for Medicaid as their expenses fluctuate. But block grants would give the states fixed amounts of money, leaving them holding the bag as health care needs and costs fluctuate over time.
No matter, on January 8th CMS approved a block grant for Tennessee, under the false assumption that block grants would provide states more “flexibility” in administering their Medicaid programs.
Medicaid has been fulfilling its mission since it was signed into law 55 years ago. Health care advocates (and seniors’ advocates) know that if something’s not broken, it doesn’t need to be fixed. But corporatist politicians can’t seem to tolerate the government spending money to care for society’s most vulnerable. Former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan was downright gleeful about the prospect of slashing Medicaid.
“We have been dreaming of this since I have been around, since you and I were drinking at a keg,” said Ryan in 2017 about the prospect of cutting Medicaid.
President Trump’s annual budgets called for cutting Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion. Fortunately, this administration is leaving office in less than a week, making way for a new President and new Congress who no doubt will strengthen – not undermine – the federal Medicaid program.
Biden’s Choice for CMS Director a Welcome Change for Post-Trump Era
President Biden has made his choice for a key administration official. Today, he named Chiquita Brooks-LaSure as Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency with sweeping jurisdiction over health policy affecting seniors, workers with disabilities, and their families. If confirmed by the Senate, Brooks-LaSure will be the first African-American woman to hold that post.
CMS director-designate Chiquita Brooks-LaSure
Brooks-LaSure, a former Obama administration healthcare policy official, will replace President Trump’s CMS chief, Seema Verma, who left the job when Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20th. Verma – a corporatist conservative idealogue – spent four years undermining traditional Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. Her actions in office also came under scrutiny by the HHS Inspector General for her “use of outside consultants to perform inherently governmental functions,” including burnishing her own image.
As President Biden’s designated CMS director, Brooks-LaSure represents a welcome change, with a solid background in Democratic health policy circles:
“[She] has a long track record in government, having held health policy jobs at the White House, in Congress, and at CMS during the Obama administration. Most recently she led the Biden transition’s ‘landing team’ for the Department of Health and Human Services, laying the groundwork for the new administration.” – Associated Press, 2/18/21
She appears very much in sync with President Biden’s healthcare priorities. The Associated Press reports that Brooks-LaSure is expected to increase Obamacare enrollment and “persuade holdout states to adopt Medicaid expansion.”
According to the Washington Post, Brooks-LaSure was “championed by allies on Capitol Hill, including the Congressional Black Caucus.” She no doubt will be a powerful advocate for President Biden’s legislative efforts to boost health care access – especially for older Americans. President Biden campaigned on a platform of expanding not only Medicaid, but Medicare – a key goal for the National Committee and our members and supporters across the country.
One of Brooks-LaSure’s early challenges will be reversing some of the most insidious Trump administration healthcare policies. The Biden administration already is off to a good start. On February 12th, CMS sent letters to several states, rescinding Trump administration waivers allowing Medicaid work requirements. Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik celebrated the end of this mean-spirited Trump policy, pointing out that forcing Medicaid patients to work is unfair and contrary to the program’s mission. In a column aptly titled, Goodbye to those stupid, useless and biased Medicaid work requirements, Hiltzik writes:
“Healthcare experts warned from the inception that work requirements would throw thousands of people off Medicaid, wouldn’t increase employment, would be expensive to administer, would probably be ruled illegal and were unnecessary. They were right on all counts.” – Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 2/17/21
We also hope that Brooks-LaSure will steer CMS in the opposite direction in its public outreach for Medicare Open Enrollment. Trump’s CMS showed blatant bias toward private Medicare Advantage plans, especially in its annual enrollment materials. We look to Biden’s CMS chief to ensure that enrollees receive balanced information about their Medicare options.
Between undoing Trump administration policies and implementing President Biden’s proposals, there are myriad challenges facing the new CMS director. Fortunately, Brooks-LaSure brings to the job her leadership skills, policy chops, and a fresh perspective as the first black woman to helm CMS.
*************************************************
View the National Committee’s 2021 Legislative Agenda.
COVID Relief Package Should be a Relief for Seniors
President Biden’s COVID $1.9 trillion relief package should be a relief to seniors, who stand to benefit from some of its key provisions. On Friday morning, the Senate passed a budget resolution (51-50, with Vice President Harris breaking the tie) launching the COVID package on its journey through the budget reconciliation process. A few hours later, the House adopted a budget blueprint with instructions for congressional committees drafting relief legislation.
By using the reconciliation process, the Democrats’ final bill can pass the Senate with no risk of a Republican filibuster – placing it on a fairly straight path to the President’s desk for signature. Democrats say they would like the relief package to be enacted no later than mid-March, when enhanced unemployment benefits expire.
The COVID package will contain billions of dollars for vaccine distribution. That should be welcome news for seniors, many of whom are still awaiting vaccination due to shortages and inefficiencies in the distribution process. As NPR reports:
“With millions of older Americans eligible for COVID-19 vaccines and limited supplies, many continue to describe a frantic and frustrating search to secure a shot, beset by uncertainty and difficulty.” – NPR, 2/4/21
The relief package also includes $1,400 stimulus payments (in addition to the $600 in the previous legislation). The extra money should help eligible older Americans on fixed incomes struggling to stay financially afloat during the pandemic.
There also is good news for the Medicaid program, which pays for the lion’s share of seniors’ long term care services and supports. The COVID relief package extends an additional 6.2% in federal Medicaid matching funds contained in last year’s bill through the end of 2021.
The proposed package contains $9 billion in dedicated Medicaid funds for home and community-based care. We and other seniors’ organizations encourage elder care outside of nursing homes in favor of home and community settings, which can offer better physical and mental health outcomes for older patients.
“Home and community-based care is significantly less costly than nursing home care. What’s more, seniors are more likely to thrive when they are able to remain in their homes and communities — with familiar surroundings and more frequent interactions with friends and family.” – National Committee president and CEO Max Richtman, 7/13/20
The legislation now being shaped on Capitol Hill also will include several hundred billion dollars in aid for state and local governments. That’s good for seniors as state and local governments expend money on their behalf, including Older Americans Act programs. Seniors also stand to benefit from the infusion of federal funds that states and localities may use for everything from Medicaid to police and fire services.
President Biden pledges not to budge on amount of $1,400 stimulus payments
President Biden’s relief plan featured a $15 per hour federal minimum wage, which would boost the income of seniors working in retail and service jobs. However, it’s not yet clear that the minimum wage provision meets rules governing the reconciliation process – or whether it will garner enough Democratic votes to pass the Senate.
COVID relief legislation will no doubt undergo changes as it moves through committees and onto the floor of each house of Congress. President Biden has so far stood firm against Republican attempts to reduce the $1.9 trillion price tag, but has signaled flexibility on precisely who is eligible for stimulus payments. The President said on Friday that he will not budge on the $1,400 stimulus payment amount, and pledged to get “money directly in people’s pockets” who need it most.
Biden Admin Begins Removing Malignant Trump-Era Rules
The new Biden administration has begun the arduous process of rescinding Trump-era rules harming the disabled and seniors. President Trump and his appointees spent four years undermining the health and financial security of some of society’s most vulnerable members. While they failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act and were not successful in slashing budgets for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Trump officials utilized executive power to achieve their ideological ends. Simply stated, the goal was to cut spending and resources for social insurance and safety net programs while enriching the private sector wherever possible.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Social Security Administration were at the forefront of these efforts. Now under the Biden administration’s control, CMS began this week to roll back healthcare rules negatively affecting Medicare that originated under Trump.
“The withdrawn rules come after President Joe Biden’s Chief of Staff Ronald Klain ordered a freeze on new or pending rules issued by the Trump administration. The freeze prevents the departments and agencies from implementing the rules until the Biden administration has had a chance to review them.” – Becker’s Hospital CFO Report, 1/26/21
The Biden administration has its work cut out for it. Not only did the Trump administration meddle with Medicare, it effectuated onerous work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries, and championed block grants which could cause millions of patients to lose coverage. As we wrote in this space earlier this month:
“Medicaid has been fulfilling its mission since it was signed into law 55 years ago. Health care advocates (and seniors’ advocates) know that if something’s not broken, it doesn’t need to be fixed. But corporatist politicians can’t seem to tolerate the government spending money to care for low-income Americans and seniors.” – Entitled to Know, 1/15/21
President Biden also has already started rolling back pernicious policies from Trump’s Social Security Administration (SSA) that were designed to make it more difficult for disabled workers to claim – and retain – SSDI benefits.
SSA Commissioner Andrew Saul, former board member of a conservative think tank, is a holdover from the Trump administration
One of the next agenda items for Biden’s team is to reverse another Trump-era rule that sought so strip power from career administrative law judges (ALJs) in deciding Social Security Disability Insurance claim disputes, giving political appointees greater influence in the process.
“This unprecedented move, which may well be illegal, would effectively deny due process to people who have a right to these benefits by allowing political appointees to manipulate the adjudication of claims.” – Mark J. Stern, Slate magazine, 1/27/2021
Meanwhile, there is growing pressure for President Biden to remove Trump’s appointed Social Security Commissioner, Andrew Saul, whose term isn’t set to expire until 2025. As Slate reported on Wednesday, many seniors’ advocates believe that Saul (a former board member of the right-wing Manhattan Institute) will continue to undermine Social Security if allowed to continue as commissioner.
Reversing four years of Trump administration sabotage will take time. Undoing regulatory rules and executive orders can be a long and drawn-out process. But, like any malignancy, they must be removed. President Biden, who during the campaign called Social Security and Medicare “sacred obligations,” is off to a good start.
Biden Must Reverse Trump’s Assault on Social Security
President Biden has inherited a Social Security program that is on a weaker footing than when Donald Trump took office. But the new President has pledged to strengthen and expand the program – both by working with Congress and through executive action. In fact, President Biden is well positioned to safeguard one of the landmark achievements of one of his most prominent Democratic predecessors, Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose son, Congressman James Roosevelt, Sr., founded our organization.
FDR’s grandson said it best when we endorsed President Biden last fall:
“Joe Biden has a record over four decades of being a strong supporter of Social Security. He was a strong voice in the Senate for the needs of seniors and it’s clear that the proposals that Biden and Harris are offering demonstrate a clear understanding of American seniors’ needs.” – James Roosevelt, Jr., vice-chair, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare advisory board
As if Americans needed a reminder of how crucial Social Security is, the pandemic – which disproportionately impacted seniors – has underlined its importance. Social Security is there for eligible older workers who lose their jobs or are forced to retire early by sickness or disability. It is there as a financial lifeline for retirees, who face higher medical expenses or loss of other income during the pandemic. It is there for families of workers when they become disabled, or pass away.
Despite promising to protect the program, former President Trump proposed slashing Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) by tens of billions of dollars in each of his annual budgets. The administration issued new rules erecting obstacles for disabled workers seeking to claim or retain benefits. The Social Security Administration even tried to politicize the adjudication of SSDI cases. The Biden administration will try to roll back these pernicious rules, but it may be a long and complex process.
The Trump administration issued rules making it harder for disabled workers to collect Social Security
Last August, President Trump interfered with Social Security’s main funding stream by issuing a reckless executive order deferring workers’ Social Security payroll taxes. Not only was the order economically ineffective; those workers (mostly federal employees) must now repay those deferred payroll taxes. In pursuing this policy, Trump tampered with the “earned benefit” nature of Social Security, which is funded by the payroll taxes that Americans contribute during their working lives.
Trump and Congressional Republicans failed to embrace commonsense proposals to increase Social Security’s revenue (without benefit cuts), setting the program on a sound financial course for the future. Before the pandemic, Social Security’s trust fund was projected to become exhausted by 2035, if Congress takes no pre-emptive action. Now, the COVID recession may hasten the trust funds’ insolvency date.
Conservatives remain fixated on the false assumption that Social Security drives the federal debt, and even proposed cutting ‘entitlements’ after enacting the 2017 tax windfall for the wealthy and big corporations, which swelled the deficit by some $2 trillion. The conservatives’ solution for “reforming” Social Security is to slash benefits for future seniors, who will rely on their benefits more than previous generations.
Rep. John Larson’s Social Security 2100 Act overlaps with many of President Biden’s proposals
We endorsed President Biden because of his commitment to seniors and their earned benefits. During the campaign, he called Social Security and Medicare “sacred obligations” and offered a commonsense list of Social Security proposals which the National Committee supports, including:
*Adjusting the Social Security payroll wage cap so that the wealthy pay their fair share.
*Providing the oldest beneficiaries – those who have been receiving retirement benefits for at least 20 years– with a higher monthly check.
*Giving eligible workers a guaranteed minimum benefit equal to at least 125% of the federal poverty level.
*Raising monthly benefits for widows and widowers by some 20%.
There is significant overlap between President Biden’s proposals and Rep. John Larson’s Social Security 2100 Act, which we fully endorse. Passing ambitious Social Security improvements may prove difficult in the Senate, where Democrats hold the slimmest of majorities.
We trust that President Biden and Social Security champions in Congress will continue to fight to strengthen and expand the program, leveraging the energy of seniors and their advocates, including the National Committee’s millions of members and supporters.
Trump Administration Couldn’t Resist Taking Parting Shots at Medicaid on Its Way Out
None of the programs that provide seniors with financial and health security are better off after four years of the Trump Administration. President Trump and his minions have undermined Social Security and traditional Medicare, and have left both programs in worse fiscal shape than when he took office. Medicaid has fared just as badly – or maybe worse – a target of the corporate, ideological conservatives entrusted with administering the program. Now, as the Los Angeles Times’ Michael Hiltzik reports, the Trump administration is taking parting shots at Medicaid on its way out of office.
Medicaid not only provides crucial health coverage to low-income Americans; it pays the lion’s share of long-term care services and supports for impoverished seniors. Without Medicaid, millions of seniors could not afford skilled nursing care – whether in institutions or in home/community care settings. Medicaid also ensures that financially challenged ‘near seniors’ (age 55+) can access affordable health care before they enter the Medicare program at age 65.
Medicaid pays more than half off the costs of all long-term care services and supports
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), under its director Seema Verma, apparently don’t believe in Medicaid’s core mission – a commitment by the federal government and the states to ensure society’s that least fortunate receive health care. In fact, Verma and her fellow ideologues have sought to weaken Medicaid through work requirements and experiments with block grants.
As Hiltzik observed in Thursday’s Los Angeles Times:
“Medicaid is second to none among government programs in the hostility it has attracted from the Trump administration. Virtually since Trump’s inauguration, he has taken steps aimed at throwing tens of thousands of Americans off the Medicaid rolls.” – Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 1/14/21
Last fall, the administration approved work requirements for Medicaid in Georgia and Nebraska. Work requirements – a pet project of conservatives, including CMS administrator Seems Verma – have nothing to do with Medicaid’s mission, which is to provide health coverage for lower-income citizens who can’t afford it.
Contrary to the administration’s claims, work requirements impose unreasonable burdens on beneficiaries. As Hiltzik points out, work requirements “don’t reduce joblessness and they don’t improve people’s health.” Lower courts have already overturned such rules, but the Supreme Court will consider work requirements this term – which has health care advocates “scratching their heads.”
The administration has also championed block grants to the states for Medicaid, another policy idea promulgated by conservatives. Currently, the federal government matches state spending for Medicaid as their expenses fluctuate. But block grants would give the states fixed amounts of money, leaving them holding the bag as health care needs and costs fluctuate over time.
No matter, on January 8th CMS approved a block grant for Tennessee, under the false assumption that block grants would provide states more “flexibility” in administering their Medicaid programs.
Medicaid has been fulfilling its mission since it was signed into law 55 years ago. Health care advocates (and seniors’ advocates) know that if something’s not broken, it doesn’t need to be fixed. But corporatist politicians can’t seem to tolerate the government spending money to care for society’s most vulnerable. Former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan was downright gleeful about the prospect of slashing Medicaid.
“We have been dreaming of this since I have been around, since you and I were drinking at a keg,” said Ryan in 2017 about the prospect of cutting Medicaid.
President Trump’s annual budgets called for cutting Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion. Fortunately, this administration is leaving office in less than a week, making way for a new President and new Congress who no doubt will strengthen – not undermine – the federal Medicaid program.