2015 Budget Reaction from National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare President/CEO, Max Richtman

“While the President’s budget thankfully no longer includes cuts to Social Security, his 2015 plan unfortunately still targets seniors by shifting more costs to Medicare beneficiaries through increased means-testing, premium hikes and co-pays. While some tout increasing means testing in Medicare as a way to insure ‘rich’ seniors pay their share, the truth is, the middle-class will take this hit too.

Medicare has already been means-tested since 2007 and the number of beneficiaries subject to higher premiums has been increasing.  If passed, this means testing proposal targets even middle-class individuals with the equivalent income of just $45,600 – these are not ‘wealthy’ seniors by any measure. Shifting even more costs to seniors ignores the economic challenges many face just getting by day-to-day. It also exacerbates the retirement deficit gap millions of Americans face now and into the future.

Our nation faces a retirement security crisis.  Shifting even more costs to seniors worsens that crisis rather than addressing it head-on. While acknowledging this crisis with proposals such as myRA and automatic IRA’s, this budget focuses attention on the private sector rather than strengthening the number one source of income for many seniors, Social Security. As a nation we should be looking for ways to boost Social Security’s benefits.” Max Richtman, NCPSSM President and CEO