As Medicare Turns 59, We Still Need to Defend It

Before Medicare was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson 59 years ago today, nearly half of American seniors had no hospital insurance. Private insurance companies were reluctant to cover anyone over 65. Even fewer seniors had coverage for non-hospital services like doctor’s visits.  Many of the elderly were forced to exhaust their retirement savings to pay for medical care; some fell into poverty because of it. All of that changed with Medicare.

Our Debate Takeaway: Trump’s Lies Undermine Seniors’ Earned Benefits

As seniors’ advocates, it is not our job to parse Joe Biden’s debate performance. It’s our job to tell Americans in straight talk who is telling the truth about Social Security and Medicare — and who will protect them as president. In last night’s debate, Donald Trump repeatedly spread disinformation about seniors’ earned benefits, while President Biden’s statements were consistent with the truth — and with his record in office of defending both programs.

Republican Study Committee Budget Cuts Earned Benefits; Keeps Trump Tax Cuts

For solid clues as to what the Republicans would do to Americans’ earned benefits if they maintain power in the House and recapture the Senate and/or the White House, look no further than the House Republican Study Committee (RSC) 2025 budget blueprint. For the second year in a row, the RSC proposes cutting Social Security and Medicare.  Rep. Brendan Boyle, Ranking member of the House Budget committee, estimates that these cuts amount to $1.5 trillion for Social Security and $1 trillion for Medicare.

Special Counsel in Biden Classified Documents Case Plays Amateur Gerontologist

By declining to charge President Biden but gratuitously impugning the president’s cognitive abilities, special counsel Robert Hur overstepped his bounds and fed into a blatantly ageist narrative. Hur pulled a “James Comey” yesterday in announcing that the president would not be charged with a crime but criticizing Biden’s handling of classified documents, just as Comey did with Hillary Clinton in 2016. (And we know how that turned out.)  But, unlike Comey, Hur also felt the need to disparage the President’s age and his memory, referring to Biden as "a well-meaning, elderly man."
2024-02-09T17:11:22-04:00February 9th, 2024|Categories: ageism, Election 2024, President Biden, President Trump|

NCPSSM At White House for Release of First Ten Drugs for Medicare Price Negotiation

Tuesday was an historic day in the effort to lower prescription drug prices for seniors.  The Biden administration has released the names of the 10 life-saving drugs that will be subject --- for the first time ever --- to price negotiation between Medicare and Big Pharma.  They are some of the most common and most expensive prescription medications that seniors take.  These essential medications do everything from preventing blood clots and strokes to treating diabetes, and they will soon cost a lot less for the federal government and for patients.

Philadelphians Flock to NCPSSM/AARP Town Hall on Social Security

More than 150 Philadelphians turned out at Center in the Park for a town hall emphasizing Social Security’s importance to the Black community, co-presented by NCPSSM and AARP Pennsylvania. Attendees learned about their earned benefits and played Social Security-themed games — including Social Security Plinko and “What does Social Security Mean to You?”

Biden-McCarthy Debt Ceiling Deal Averts Disruption of Social Security, Medicare

Amid all the static about the debt ceiling deal that President Biden and Speaker McCarthy struck over the weekend, this much is certain: the deal is better for American seniors than a federal default. “The agreement represents a compromise, which means no one got everything they wanted,” said President Biden on Monday. “But that's the responsibility of governing.”
2023-06-01T09:28:42-04:00May 30th, 2023|Categories: Congress, Debt Ceiling, Democrats, GOP, President Biden|

People With Disabilities, Pre-Existing Conditions Are Vulnerable to Social Security & Medicare Cuts

All but the most upper-income seniors would be hurt by cuts to Social Security and Medicare --- the kind which Republicans have been proposing in the name of “entitlement reform.” But older Americans with disabilities or pre-existing conditions would be hit especially hard.
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