NCPSSM, Author at NCPSSM

Our Concerns About Medicare & Medicaid as they Turn 61 Years Old

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law 61 years ago today! These legacy Great Society programs could not be MORE IMPORTANT, but the political right has been targeting them for years - and lately, they have been successful in chipping away at the programs that seniors and lower income people depend on for health coverage. We asked our legislative and policy director Dan Adcock to reflect on Medicare's history and the threats that it faces today.

NCPSSM2026-07-30T15:30:57-04:00July 30th, 2026|Categories: Joe Biden, Medicaid, Medicare, President Trump, Republicans|

Fiscal Commissions Are not the Answer for Strengthening Social Security

Soon-to-be retired Senator Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) new PROMISE Act is the latest in a wave of proposals to establish a ‘fiscal commission’ to address Social Security’s looming financial shortfall, instead of allowing Congress to do its job and devise its own proposals. Durbin’s bill would authorize the four-person Social Security Advisory Board to draft a 50‑year solvency bill that would be fast‑tracked through Congress by the end of the current legislative session. While it differs from earlier commission proposals, Durbin’s legislation still relies on an outside body to formulate changes to a program that 70 million Americans rely on for basic financial security. On the latest episode of our Capital Quick Takes video series, communications director Walter Gottlieb interviews our President and CEO Max Richtman about Durbin’s bill and other efforts to create fiscal commissions for Social Security.

NCPSSM2026-07-24T11:01:59-04:00July 23rd, 2026|Categories: fiscal commission, seniors, Social Security|

Social Security is on the Ballot in 2026

we have launched a new voter education campaign called “Social Security on the Ballot.” Its message is simple but urgent: when Americans go to the polls this November, they’ll be choosing candidates who will shape the future of Social Security.

NCPSSM2026-06-16T15:45:26-04:00June 16th, 2026|Categories: Congress, Democrats, Election 2026, GOP, Social Security, Trump, Trump Administration|

Social Security Commissioner’s Sketchy Sales Pitch to Congress

If Social Security Commissioner (and CEO of the IRS) Frank Bisignano brought anything with him from the corporate world, it is his ability to sell, sell, sell. At a June 10th hearing on Capitol Hill, the former Wall Street executive did his best to sell the fiction that EVERYTHING IS JUST GREAT at the Social Security Administration – despite massive understaffing, poor morale, and outright abuse of beneficiaries’ personal data. While House Ways and Means Committee Republicans responded to Bisignano’s testimony with complete credulity, Democrats and Social Security advocates would have appreciated -- pardon the pun -- a little more Frankness. And maybe even a smidge of humility.

NCPSSM2026-06-16T09:43:00-04:00June 12th, 2026|Categories: Congress, Democrats, Republicans|

Making Sense of the New Social Security Trustees Report

On Tuesday morning, The Social Security Administration (SSA) released its highly anticipated Trustees Report for 2026. The trustees project that the depletion date of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance (OASDI) trust fund surplus will hold firm at 2034, at which time the program still could play 83% of promised benefits. (Advocates and analysts expected the date to creep up one year to 2033.) Interestingly enough, the trustees report blames Trump administration policies for the acceleration of trust fund insolvency – pointing to the Big, Ugly Bill which decreased tax revenues flowing into Social Security... in addition to Trump’s anti-immigration campaign. (Less immigration means fewer workers paying into the system.)

NCPSSM2026-06-11T11:12:50-04:00June 10th, 2026|Categories: Democrats, Rep. John Larson, Social Security, Trump, Trump Administration|

Social Security Commissioner Helped to Facilitate Trump Slush Fund

Throughout his tenure in the Trump administration, Frank Bisignano — the Social Security Commissioner and “CEO” of the IRS — has established himself as a willing participant in some of the President’s most controversial political projects. That dynamic came to a head this month, when Bisignano used his position with the IRS to sign off on an agreement with the Justice Department that created the widely criticized “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” intended to direct taxpayer dollars to January 6 defendants and other Trump allies.

NCPSSM2026-06-03T16:17:37-04:00June 1st, 2026|Categories: Commisioner Bisignano, Democrats, DOGE, Social Insurance, Trump|

The Trump/Vance Medicaid Retribution Road Show

The Trump administration continues to weaponize Medicaid to punish Blue States under the phony cover of hunting for “waste, fraud, and abuse.” Trump named J.D. Vance ‘fraud czar’ – and the veep has wasted no time withholding billions of dollars in Medicaid funds from Democratic-run states. Last week, Vance announced he’s holding back $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to California over allegations of “fraud.” There obviously is no love lost between the Trump administration and Governor Gavin Newsome’s state.

NCPSSM2026-05-18T15:33:48-04:00May 18th, 2026|Categories: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, GOP, healthcare, Medicaid, Medicare|

Trump’s Medicaid Work Requirements Will Rob 5-10 Million of Health Coverage

Medicaid work requirements are coming for millions of people’s health care. This is thanks to Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill, which mandates that states institute work requirements in order for patients to enroll or maintain health coverage under Medicaid. Work requirements are projected to strip 5-10 million people of health insurance in the coming years. And for no good reason, other than Republicans’ ideological opposition to federal health care programs — and as a way to pay for Trump’s massive tax giveaway to the wealthy.

NCPSSM2026-05-01T14:15:15-04:00April 30th, 2026|Categories: Medicaid, President Trump, Republicans|

Trump Admin. to Blame for Social Security Data Abuse (Not Just Rogue DOGE Bro’s)

New reporting in the Washington Post indicates that a former DOGE software engineer allegedly copied Americans’ personal information from two Social Security databases onto a thumb drive, with the intention of uploading the data onto the servers of a company where he had recently obtained employment. These two databases include the records of approximately 500 million living and dead beneficiaries, risking exposure of Social Security numbers, birthplaces, dates, citizenship, race, ethnicity, and parents' names.

NCPSSM2026-03-12T15:00:36-04:00March 12th, 2026|Categories: DOGE, President Trump, Social Security, Social Security Administration (SSA)|