May 11, 2022

The Honorable Rosa DeLauro
Chair
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Kay Granger
Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Patrick Leahy
Chair
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Richard Shelby
Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Patty Murray
Chair
Subcommittee on Labor,
Health and Human Services,
Education, and Related Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Roy Blunt
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Labor,
Health and Human Services,
Education, and Related Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Tom Cole

Ranking Member
Subcommittee on

Labor, Health and Human Services,

Education, and Related Agencies

Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

 

Dear Chairs DeLauro, Leahy and Murray and Ranking Members Granger, Shelby, Blunt, and Cole,

On behalf of the millions of members and supporters of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, I am writing to ask that as you develop legislation – particularly in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill – that funds the federal government for fiscal year (FY) 2023 you prioritize funding for vitally important programs that America’s seniors depend on to meet the needs of their daily lives. Members of the National Committee come from all walks of life and every political persuasion. What unites them is their passion for protecting and strengthening Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the other programs that are so vitally important to older Americans.With 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day – and the number of seniors projected to double by 2050 – the National Committee hopes that the decisions you make about funding priorities are mindful of the need to safeguard our older Americans now and into the future. What follows are our recommendations regarding funding for these programs for FY 2023.

Social Security

While we appreciate President Biden’s proposed funding of $14.8 billion for the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) FY 2023 appropriation for administrative expenses, the budget was prepared prior to Congress’s enactment of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations bill for FY 2022.  In this legislation, Congress provided only $13.3 billion for the Agency – which was $1 billion less than SSA’s funding request – an amount far lower than proposed by both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

According to Acting Commissioner Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi, this level of funding is far less than SSA needs even to cover basic inflationary costs, let alone provide the level of service Congress and the American people expect from this critical Agency. As a result of the seriously insufficient funding enacted for FY 2022, SSA will be required to delay needed hires, including teleservice center staff, and information technology improvements, and will have less overtime available to help address a potential surge of people returning to field offices for in-person service.

For this reason, we urge you to provide $15.55 billion in funding for FY 2023, which is the amount submitted by the Agency itself to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). We firmly believe SSA is better positioned to anticipate the funding it will need to provide the level of service the American people deserve than OMB staff, though even this level is unlikely to fully make up for the serious and unanticipated level of underfunding confronting SSA in FY 2022.  Instead of focusing on the types of investments SSA needs to make in order to modernize its systems and improve customer service, SSA has been forced to cannibalize other accounts in order to re-open its field offices safely.  Fully funding the Agency’s original request will represent a major step toward restoring SSA’s ability to fulfill its mission.

We understand Congress is faced with many important priorities, and the appropriations bill funding the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services traditionally reflects the many difficult choices that must be made to allocate limited resources.  We at the National Committee share this challenge, as we also support numerous programs vital to seniors and their families.

It is important to remember, however, that Social Security represents the foundation of income security for the American people.  Without a solid foundation, other programs designed to protect workers and their families from the ravages of death, disability and old age simply will not be able to adequately fulfill their missions.  And the activities of the Social Security Administration are at the heart of the administration of the Social Security program.  Adequate funding for SSA is vitally important to your constituents and to our millions of members and supporters across the country who either are receiving Social Security or expect to do so in the future, both to ensure that they receive the benefits they have earned and to maintain the public’s support for this essential program.

Even prior to FY 2022, the Social Security Administration suffered from a serious erosion of funding, which is especially frustrating when one considers that the source of funding for SSA’s operations comes from the Social Security Trust Funds themselves, not general revenue – and that contributions from American workers have built up a $2.9 trillion surplus in these accounts, in addition to about $1 trillion received in Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) contributions each year.  From 2010 to 2021, SSA’s operating budget declined by about 13 percent after inflation, while the number of beneficiaries rose by 21 percent, primarily as a result of the growth in new retirement beneficiaries as the baby boom generation reached retirement age.

The results of this underfunding have been increasingly apparent and have only been exacerbated by the impacts of the pandemic.  The problems with SSA’s outdated phone systems are well-known to the public as callers to the Agency receive busy signals much of the time, are kept on hold for hours and, when they do manage to get through, regularly find that their calls are dropped in mid-conversation.  Inadequate funding has also led to staffing shortages, with the agency losing over 7,000 full-time equivalents between 2010 and 2020 and an additional 1,500 since the beginning of the pandemic.  Recruiting new employees is becoming increasingly challenging, and the lack of adequate training has resulted in a noticeable reduction in the accuracy of answers callers receive to technical inquiries they submit to SSA when they are finally able to speak to staff.  Finally, the backlogs that have developed in both the Disability Determination Services and the Offices of Hearings Operations are persistent and growing, resulting in thousands of applicants dying while waiting for their appeals to receive a hearing.

The Agency and its employees have done an extraordinary job of making the most effective use of the dollars they have been appropriated, however, there is only so far SSA can go without a meaningful infusion of resources.  This critical lifeline for millions of Americans must not be allowed to wither on the vine.  Congress must provide adequate funding for this foundation of support for workers and their families.  This funding must begin with an allocation of $15.55 billion for the Agency’s administrative expenses in FY 2023.

In addition to the issue of adequate funding, we urge Congress to include language related to the production and mailing of hard-copy Social Security statements.  SSA has consistently followed their plan to limit the distribution of statements only to individuals who are 60 or older rather than sending them to all workers 25 and older every year as required by Section 1143 of the Social Security Act.  Annual statements help ensure accuracy by allowing workers to know what earnings are reported to SSA and to correct any errors in a timely way.  This task becomes increasingly difficult as years pass, employers change or go out of business, and the documentation to prove income is lost.

Statements also help workers plan for their retirement by providing a starting point for the income they can expect to receive, helping them plan for how much they need to save in the future.  Finally, annual statements are invaluable to inform workers of the types of benefits provided by Social Security, and to build and strengthen public confidence that the program will be there when they need it.  According to the Congressional Justification for the President’s request for FY 2022, it would cost approximately $81 million to provide statements to all workers who are not receiving Social Security benefits. We urge you to include an earmark within SSA’s administrative budget requiring that section 1143 of the Social Security Act be fully funded, just as the House did in Report 117-96 accompanying H.R. 4502.

Regarding the adjudication of requests for hearings, we continue to be concerned about the effect of President Trump-era regulations that authorizes the Commissioner of Social Security to use Administrative Appeals Judges (AAJ) to conduct hearings on appeals of denied disability claims. We are concerned that AAJs do not have the decisional independence of Administrative Law Judges, which could compromise the integrity of the appeals process.  We urge you to bar the expenditure of appropriated funds in the FY 2023 Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations bill for the purpose of using AAJs in the hearing process.

Discretionary Programs Affecting Older Americans

The Older Americans Act (OAA) supports a range of home and community-based services, such as home delivered meals and other nutrition programs, in-home services, transportation, legal services, elder abuse prevention and caregiver support. Up until recently, however, the Act’s broad and critical mission has been undermined by inadequate funding.  Over the past 20 years, the OAA has lost ground due to federal funding that has not kept pace with either inflation or growth in the older population.

Annual OAA discretionary funding declined over the 10-year period from FY 2009 to FY 2019, and funding levels each year remained below the FY 2010 level when funding was at its highest level ($2.328 billion). However, for FY 2020, total OAA funding, including supplemental funding to respond to the needs of seniors during the COVID pandemic, reached its highest level ($3.220 billion) in the Act’s 55-year history. This trend continued into FY 2021 with an increase of $96 million, but slowed in FY 2022 with a nominal boost of $28 million.

The National Committee supports recommendations in the President’s budget to further increase funding – by 27.1 percent in FY 2023 – for Older Americans Act programs, including:

  • $1.272 billion for nutrition programs, a $320 million or 33 percent increase over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • $500 million for support services, a $107 million or 27.2 percent increase over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • $249.9 million for the National Family Caregiver Support Program, a $61 million or 32 percent increase over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • $70.2 million for Native American nutrition and supportive services, a $35 million or 100 percent increase over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • $36.8 million for the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, an $18 million or 95 percent increase over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • $14.2 million for the Lifespan Respite Program, a $7 million or 100 percent increase over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • $55.2 million for the Medicare State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), a $3.1 million or 5.9 percent increase over the FY 2022 enacted level. SHIPs offer Medicare-eligible individuals, their families, and caregivers unbiased counseling to make informed health insurance decisions that optimize access to care and benefits.
  • $509.8 million for the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP).  The FY 2022 enacted level for SCSEP is $60 million less than the funding nearly three decades ago.  To meet the needs of low-income seniors, this chronically underfunded program should receive the $104.8 million increase in FY 2023 we are requesting.

Block Grant Programs

The National Committee urges you to prioritize funding for the following block grant programs that help to fund Older Americans Act home-delivered meals and other programs to help seniors:

  • Community Development Block Grant (CDBG): At least $3.8 billion.
  • Social Services Block Grant (SSBG): At least $1.7 billion.
  • Community Service Block Grant (CSBG): At least $755 million.

Other Programs Important to Seniors

  • Alzheimer’s/dementia research funding at the National Institutes of Health: At least $3.4 billion, a $226 million increase over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP): At least $4 billion, a $200 million increase over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • Section 202 Housing for the Elderly: At least $966 million.
  • The Senior Corps Programs (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, Foster Grandparents Program and Senior Companions Program): At least $253 million, a $22.1 million increase over the FY 2022 enacted level, including:
  • $63 million for the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program.
  • $131.3 million for the Foster Grandparents Program.
  • $58.7 million for Senior Companions Program

Conclusion

While I recognize that you have challenging choices to make within the limited resources allocated to the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services Appropriations bill, the National Committee respectfully asks you to prioritize the programs that help seniors live independent and dignified lives. Without your investment in these discretionary initiatives, the valuable services that protect older Americans against poverty, hunger, isolation, poor health, neglect, abuse, unemployment and other challenges will fail to reach the aging population in need of these services. Under your leadership, the National Committee hopes that for FY 2023, all of these programs will be funded at levels that enable them to meet a rapidly growing demand for services. Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to working with you to ensure sustained investment in programs and agencies crucial to seniors.

Sincerely,

Max Richtman
President and CEO