The National Committee Does not Support the Congressional Majority’s Continuing Use of Social Security as a Bargaining Chip in budget negotiations
“…the new budget drastically cuts Social Security benefits for many of those now collecting, drastically cuts benefits for many of those who were about to collect, exacerbates Social Security work disincentive and induces households to do exactly the wrong thing, namely take their benefits too early at the cost of permanently lower benefits.”
Source: Proposed Budget Bill Would Have Devastating Effects on Millions’ Social Security Benefits
Columnist: Laurence Kotlikoff
Correction:
In a column loaded with scary and inflammatory rhetoric describing Congress’ budget deal as “devastating,” “radical,” and “truly draconian,” Laurence Kotlikoff does his readers and especially Social Security beneficiaries a huge disservice by presenting changes that impact a tiny percentage of Americans as something much larger. At issue is a little-used benefit strategy called File and Suspend. The Budget deal modifies this practice and fixes the unintended consequences (the Social Security Actuary calls it a loophole) in a 2000 Social Security law that allows retirees to file for Social Security and then suspend receipt of their benefits to maximize their Social Security payout. Under the Budget deal, the tiny percentage of beneficiaries (estimated to be about 100,000 people) who’ve used this strategy will be allowed to continue to do so. Their benefits will not be cut. However, Congress is changing this claiming practice for the future. Spouses, divorced spouses, the disabled and children will still quality for their regular earned Social Security benefits much as they have in the past. As the co-author of a how-to book advising people on ways to use “aggressive claiming strategies,” there’s no surprise Kotlikoff finds this provision frustrating; however, these changes are far from “reneging” on Social Security’s promise as claimed in his piece.
The National Committee does not support the Congressional majority’s continuing use of Social Security as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations. However, it’s vital that Americans receive the full story about Congressional action on Social Security, including who is truly affected and in what ways. The Congressional budget deal does not cut benefits and will not impact millions of people, contrary to what was reported by PBS.
GOP Sticks to Demands for Social Security & Medicare Cuts
As the days and weeks pass, with the GOP Congress still unable to find anyone willing to be Speaker of a chaotic House, the party remains committed to one thing. They won’t agree to extend the debt limit or any of the other critical budget deadline looming without getting cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Politico reports:
“…that means entitlement reform, which is where the big money is,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). “We got our feet wet on the [Medicare doc fix]. We ought to get a little more wet. We’re up ankle deep. Maybe we ought to go waist deep.”
As a reminder, the Medicare “doc fix” passed earlier this year cut benefits for millions of beneficiaries. Apparently, GOP leaders see that as just the beginning…
No Social Security COLA Increase + Massive Medicare Hike for Millions
Today’s announcement that there will be no Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase next year, for only the third time in 40
years, means that millions of seniors who rely on their Social Security to get by will once again find their expenses outpacing their Social Security benefit. For 30% of Medicare beneficiaries, Part B premiums are now projected to increase next year by 52%—up to $159.30 per month from $104.90. This increase will be also accompanied by an increase in the Part B deductible—up to $223 from $147.
“The average American senior simply can’t afford a triple-digit increase for their Medicare coverage. We have urged Congress to pass legislation to address this urgent problem looming for millions of seniors, the disabled and their families. For millions of seniors, this large Medicare hike is devastating and a result of a well-intended “hold harmless” provision that left out too many Medicare beneficiaries.
All of this was triggered by a zero COLA increase in Social Security for 2016, confirming yet again, that the current Social Security COLA formula isn’t accurately measuring seniors’ expenses. Seniors across this nation understand how important having an accurate measure of the increase in their real costs is to their day-to-day survival. While there has been a lot of talk in Washington about the need to find a more accurate COLA formula; unfortunately, that attention has largely focused on ways to cut the COLA even further. Leaving many Americans to wonder what’s less than zero? If accurate inflation protection for seniors is truly our goal, Congress needs to adopt a fully developed CPI for the elderly (CPI-E). Until then, we urge Congress to act quickly to mitigate the devastating Medicare hikes headed for millions of Americans who can’t afford them.” …Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO
The National Committee is working with a large cross-section of the nation’s leading organizations representing seniors, people with disabilities, retirees, public service employees and health plans urging Congress to consider options that would prevent this Medicare hike from being implemented in 2016. The coalition has told the Senate:
“We are deeply concerned by the projected Part B premium and deductible increases, most notably for current and newly eligible beneficiaries living on low- and fixed incomes. In 2014, half of the Medicare population lived on annual incomes of $24,150 or less. Newly enrolled Medicare beneficiaries, those not collecting Social Security benefits—many of whom are retired public servants—and State Medicaid programs should not be expected to carry the burden of paying for increased costs in Part B through higher premiums and cost sharing.
As you consider options, we also encourage you to consider prior, bipartisan legislation, the Medicare Premium Fairness Act of 2009. This bill effectively extended the hold harmless to all Medicare beneficiaries and passed the U.S. House of Representatives with an overwhelming bipartisan majority.”
You can read the coalition letter to the Senate and also from the Leadership Council Of Aging Organizations.
They Never Learn. The GOP Threatens Cut Social Security & Medicare or Else
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has started budget and debt ceiling talks with the GOP’s favorite attack…cut Social Security or Medicare or else ______ (fill in the blank to fit the debate of the day). This time it’s… “or else we’ll shutdown the government.”
“Mitch McConnell privately wants the White House to pay this price to enact a major budget deal: Significant changes to Social Security and Medicare in exchange for raising the debt ceiling and funding the government.” CNN
“Chained CPI is off the table as an offset to pay for higher spending caps. One person with knowledge of the talks said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opened the negotiation with a proposal to offset higher discretionary spending with chained CPI and Medicare means testing, though McConnell’s office would not confirm that he made the request.” CQ News
“In a direct rebuke to his Republican counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday that raising the debt limit is non-negotiable. Speaking hours before the first Democratic presidential debate, which is being held in his home state, Reid encouraged President Barack Obama not to enter into talks with congressional Republicans, who have plotted to use the debt limit as a means of extracting spending cuts.” Huffington Post
You’ll also note there is no talk of reversing trillions of dollars in tax breaks and loopholes for large corporations shipping jobs overseas. No talk of the billions more in tax breaks given to the ultra-wealthy. Instead, Republican leaders want to cut the whopping $1,291 average monthly Social Security retirement benefit. A benefit Americans have paid for throughout their working lives.
The debt limit expires November 5th so there’s not much time to make it clear…once again…that the American people are paying attention and you won’t stand by and watch as Social Security is used as a political bargaining chip. Make that call!
Two New Reports on Private Medicare Advantage Plans Reveal Real Problems for Seniors
According to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report private insurers who offer Medicare Advantage plans need tougher oversight.
“Federal investigators have found Medicare officials rarely enforce rules for private insurance plans intended to make sure beneficiaries will be able to see a doctor when they need care.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees Medicare Advantage, requires the plans to have doctors in sufficient numbers and specialties who are near enough — in distance and travel time — so seniors can reach them.
But the GAO found CMS checked the provider networks of less than 1 percent of the plans since 2013 — serving just 2 percent of Medicare Advantage members — and only when the plans expanded to a new county.” … Kaiser Health News & Conn. Health I-Team
In 2013, United Healthcare, which is the nation’s biggest health insurance company and a provider of private Medicare Advantage in Connecticut, dropped hundreds of health care providers and 1,200 doctors. Medicare Advantage beneficiaries are restricted to a network of providers. If their provider leaves, they cannot change plans during the year. What happened in Connecticut is the perfect example of how MA plans have been allowed to skirt the rules, dropping providers thereby limiting coverage for seniors with little warning and leaving them with few options.
“The GAO report shows Medicare ‘was not verifying network adequacy. That’s their job and they abdicated that responsibility,’ said U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-New Haven, who requested the investigation along with other members of the Connecticut congressional delegation.”
Also this week, a new Brown University study shows that once medical care becomes costly for seniors in Medicare Advantage and no longer meets their needs beneficiaries are leaving the private MA plans.
“Our results raise questions about whether current Medicare Advantage regulations and payment formulas are designed to meet the needs of Medicare Advantage members who use post-acute and long-term care,” wrote Momotazur Rahman, assistant professor (research) of health services, policy and practice in the Brown University School of Public Health, and colleagues in the October issue of the journal Health Affairs. “The unidirectional flow of these high-risk and often high-spending patients from Medicare Advantage to traditional Medicare appears to transfer responsibility to traditional Medicare just as patients enter a period of intensive health care needs.”
Private Medicare Advantage plans continue to see growth as they promise gym-memberships, limited optometric coverage or zero premium plans. However, as predicted by many healthcare experts and indicated in the Brown study, seniors find that once they actually need help with more costly care, MA plans aren’t providing the coverage they need.
Ultimately, this means that younger and healthier seniors are being lured into private insurers’ plans only to have to switch to traditional Medicare once they need coverage for more serious health issues (and isn’t that why we have health insurance in the first place – to cover when we get sick, not when we’re healthy?). Meanwhile, private insurance companies continue to reap the benefits of annual federal subsidies to provide this limited coverage for healthier seniors – which are tax dollars that could have been used in traditional Medicare to serve all beneficiaries.