Lucas Kaplan, Author at NCPSSM

Trump Throws Medicare, Medicaid Under The Bus for War in Iran

We always knew Trump wasn’t sincere about protecting Medicare and Medicaid. But he just betrayed his own lie by saying that the two programs - which provide 140 million people with health coverage - should NOT EXIST on the federal level. Why? Because defense should be the federal government’s only priority. Trump didn’t run as a libertarian. But his (poorly worded) declaration would make the Cato Institute blush:

Lucas Kaplan2026-04-03T12:57:13-04:00April 3rd, 2026|Categories: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Medicare, President Trump, Uncategorized|

Fortune Columnist Would Rather Cut Social Security Than Make Payroll Wage Cap More Fair

The right-wing barrage of anti-Social Security propaganda continues. In fact, we’re finding ourselves having to shoot down at least one misleading (or misguided) opinion piece every month. Today’s response was provoked by a recent column in Fortune: “Social Security has 6 years left. The fix that sounds cruelest may be the smartest.” Let’s start with the headline. Social Security does not have six years left. The program will go on indefinitely as long as people are working and paying into the system. It’s accurate to say that Social Security’s trust fund reserves will become depleted in some six years — in the unlikely event that Congress takes no pre-emptive action.

Lucas Kaplan2026-03-31T13:14:39-04:00March 31st, 2026|Categories: Equal Time, Social Security, Uncategorized|

Medicare Advantage Is Costing Traditional Medicare Patients Even More Money

t’s more than a little ironic that the for-profit Medicare Advantage program – which was supposed to save everyone money – is actually going to increase costs for people in traditional medicare. Congressional investigators blame this year’s spike in Medicare Part premiums on Medicare Advantage overbilling the government by billions of dollars. Fresh reporting from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) details how those overpayments translated into an estimated $13.4 billion in extra Part B premiums in 2025 alone. In other words, every person with Part B — including those who do not enroll in Medicare Advantage — is effectively subsidizing excess payments to private insurers. This revelation is only the latest in a series of Medicare Advantage scandals.

Lucas Kaplan2026-03-25T09:43:52-04:00March 24th, 2026|Categories: Medicare, Medicare Advantage|

‘Re-Arranging Deck Chairs at Social Security’: Bisignano’s Fake Fix for Staffing Crisis

There’s been an uncanny amount of re-shuffling of workers and resources at the Social Security Administration lately – in a feeble attempt to paper over Trump’s reckless cuts in staffing. The latest example of this game of whack-a-mole unfolded last week. Commissioner Frank Bisignano announced a shiny, new plan to "centralize" medical reviews for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits — which could impact nearly 9 million Americans. (Disabled workers can lose their benefits if they do not pass these periodic reviews.)

Lucas Kaplan2026-03-17T11:20:55-04:00March 17th, 2026|Categories: Social Security, Social Security Administration (SSA), Social Security Disability Insurance|

Social Security Commissioner Fails to Reassure Lawmakers About Data Breaches

In a befuddling appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee, Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano failed to reassure lawmakers of

Lucas Kaplan2026-03-10T12:25:30-04:00March 10th, 2026|Categories: Commisioner Bisignano, DOGE, Social Security Administration (SSA), Trump Administration|

VP Vance and Mehmet Oz Turn Medicaid into a Weapon in Minnesota

Wikimedia Commons In a move of partisan pettiness, the Trump administration has “temporarily halted” $260 million in Medicaid reimbursements

Lucas Kaplan2026-03-06T13:27:57-04:00March 3rd, 2026|Categories: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, healthcare, Medicaid|

Trump Offers Seniors Lies & Empty Promises in State of the Union Speech

Last night, Donald Trump delivered a bloated, hyper-partisan spectacle that did nothing to reassure the concerns of older Americans. In fact, the president attempted to mislead seniors about the administration’s policies that most seriously affect them. “The state of the union speech was theatrics over substance. And it was brazenly partisan,” said NCPSSM president and CEO, Max Richtman. “Trump’s brand of political performance art is no substitute for leadership that improves the lives of Americans of all ages, including our nation’s seniors.”

Lucas Kaplan2026-02-26T13:02:16-04:00February 25th, 2026|Categories: Congress, Medicaid, Medicare, Prescription Drug Prices, Social Security, Social Security Administration (SSA), Trump, Trump Administration|

TrumpRx is Prescription Drug Snake Oil

Donald Trump’s latest gesture toward lowering prescription drug prices — and it is mostly an empty gesture — is the ‘branded’ website, TrumpRx, which the prez unveiled last week with great fanfare. It purports to save Americans money on drugs. But it is largely another Trump gimmick, joining Trump Steaks, Trump University, Trump Sneakers, and a myriad of other schemes. Trump Rx simply re-directs users to underwhelming (and already existing) manufacturer’s ‘discounts’ on brand‑name drugs – and is nowhere close to a serious plan to lower costs for the approximately 67 million seniors who rely on Medicare. In fact, Medicare beneficiaries cannot even use these manufacturer’s discounts, and few people with private health insurance policies will benefit, either.

Lucas Kaplan2026-02-12T14:53:01-04:00February 12th, 2026|Categories: Medicare, Prescription Drug Prices, President Trump|

Cato Really Wants to Cut Your Social Security Benefits

Cato Institute’s Romina Boccia is back at it, peddling the trope that Social Security doesn’t work and must be “re-designed.” In a recent post on Cato’s blog, she rolls out the “greatest hits” from a time-worn catalogue of conservative talking points. We asked our senior Social Security expert, Maria Freese, to fact-check some of Boccia’s key claims.

Lucas Kaplan2026-02-06T12:06:04-04:00February 5th, 2026|Categories: Congress, Payroll Tax Cap, Social Insurance, Social Security|

“Fox Guarding the Henhouse”: Social Security Whistleblower Fears Trump/DOGE Have Put Americans’ Data at Risk

An attorney for whistleblower Chuck Borges says that DOGE accessing Americans' sensitive Social Security information is akin to "the fox guarding the henhouse" -- as her client appeared on PBS NewsHour responding to the latest news about data breaches at the agency. The attorney goes on to say that the "government is lying to us" about DOGE's malfeasance. Borges, who was the Social Security Administration's chief data officer until being forced to resign, told NewsHour anchor Amna Nawaz that a court filing from the Trump administration confirms some of his worst fears about DOGE's gross mishandling of beneficiaries' personal data. The interview comes on the heels of reporting last week that DOGE employees shared sensitive Social Security data with a third party to ‘overturn election results.’

Lucas Kaplan2026-01-30T13:27:01-04:00January 29th, 2026|Categories: Uncategorized|