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Republicans Are Playing With Fire – and Seniors’ Earned Benefits – By Risking Default

Today’s breaching of the debt ceiling by the U.S. government is making seniors’ advocates nervous.  The federal government is now on track to default on its financial obligations (including the ability to make Social Security and Medicare payments) as early as June --- unless Congress raises the debt ceiling, which it has done 78 times since 1960.  As CNN's Jake Tapper put it, "Republicans are vowing to cut future spending before agreeing to pay bills that are already due."

2023-02-03T12:32:29-04:00January 19th, 2023|Budget, Congress, Debt, Kevin McCarthy, Medicaid, Medicare, President Biden, Social Security|

McCarthy Speakership Battle May Cost Seniors in the Long Run

Kevin McCarthy’s battle for the House speakership may have made for compelling political theater this week, but it has potentially dire implications for America’s seniors.  According to news reports, McCarthy (R-CA) has made concessions to holdout House members that would empower right-wingers in Congress who want to slash Social Security and Medicare --- in order to fulfill his personal ambition to become Speaker.

2023-01-06T17:04:45-04:00January 6th, 2023|Congress, Democrats, Medicare, Republicans, Social Security|

Does New Hill Spending Deal Affect Social Security & Medicare?

Congressional negotiators have struck a compromise on spending for Fiscal Year 2023, avoiding a government shutdown this Friday.  The House and Senate are expected to pass a short-term extension by the end of this week, giving negotiators more time to finish a final funding package for the rest of the fiscal year.  We spoke with NCPSSM legislative director Dan Adcock about the compromise deal.

2022-12-14T12:15:45-04:00December 14th, 2022|Budget, Congress, Democrats, Medicare, Social Security, Social Security Administration (SSA), Social Security Disability Insurance|

Bloomberg Analysis Frames Social Security and Medicare as Debt Reduction Issues. That’s Misleading.  

Fiscal conservatives continue to promote the narrative that Social Security and Medicare must be “reformed” to reduce the federal debt, which basically means cutting seniors' earned benefits. The latest foray in this propaganda campaign came in the form of an ‘analysis’ piece from Bloomberg’s Karl W. Smith, published last week in the Washington Post.

2022-11-30T13:52:05-04:00November 30th, 2022|Equal Time, GOP, Medicare, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, Social Insurance, Social Security|

NCPSSM-Endorsed Candidates Prevail in Mid-Terms

  As the country awaits full election results, The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare congratulates the many seniors’ champions who prevailed in key races across the nation.  Several candidates who the National Committee enthusiastically endorsed have emerged victorious in crucial House and the Senate contests.

2022-11-10T12:33:13-04:00November 9th, 2022|Congress, Democrats, Election 2022, Medicare, President Biden, Republicans, Retirement, Senate, Social Security|

NCPSSM Makes Final Endorsements of 2022 Cycle, Emphasizing GOP Threats to Social Security and Medicare

As the midterm campaign draws to a close with the future of Social Security and Medicare possibly at stake, NCPSSM has been completing its final round of candidate endorsement events around the country.  Today in Charlotte, North Carolina, NCPSSM legislative director and PAC coordinator Dan Adcock formally endorsed Democrat Cheri Beasley for U.S. Senate in one of the pivotal swing state races of this election cycle.

2022-11-07T12:17:47-04:00November 4th, 2022|Congress, Election 2022, Medicare, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, President Biden, privatization, Republicans, Senate|

Let’s Protect Social Security & Medicare On November 8th

It is no exaggeration to say that the nation's two most important programs for seniors—Social Security and Medicare—are on the line in this November's elections. This is not a matter of nuance; it's truly existential. Whichever party controls Congress will influence whether Social Security and Medicare will continue as we know them—or be weakened and privatized.

2022-10-28T16:06:32-04:00October 28th, 2022|2022 Opeds and Letters, Congress, Democrats, Election 2022, Max Richtman, Medicare, Politics, President Biden, Republicans, Social Security|

NCPSSM Celebrates New Drug Pricing Law at White House with President Biden, Advocates

National Committee President Max Richtman and other advocates joined President Biden at the White House on Tuesday for a celebration of the new law reducing prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries, the Inflation Reduction Act.  The event, held on the South Lawn, was attended by members of Congress, administration officials, and representatives of seniors’ groups including AARP, the Center for Medicare Advocacy, and the seniors’ council of the Democratic National Committee.

2022-09-15T10:17:02-04:00September 14th, 2022|Congress, Democrats, Joe Biden, Max Richtman, Medicare, Prescription Drug Prices|

NCPSSM President and House Members Team-Up to Tout New Prescription Drug Pricing Measures

NCPSSM President and CEO Max Richtman joined two Pennsylvania congressmen in announcing that seniors will benefit from the just-enacted Inflation Reduction Act. Richtman appeared last week at Circle Pharmacy in Philadelphia with representatives Brendan Boyle (D-PA) and Dwight Evans (D-PA).

2022-08-23T14:25:09-04:00August 23rd, 2022|Congress, Democrats, Medicare, Medicare Drug Coverage and Costs, Prescription Drug Prices, President Biden|

Prescription Drug Price Reform of Historic Proportions

Those who refer to the Inflation Reduction Act passed by the Senate this past weekend as “historic” are not exaggerating. The Act represents the most muscular legislation to date to try to tame rising prescription drug prices, which can be devastating for seniors.

2022-08-09T13:35:14-04:00August 9th, 2022|Congress, Democrats, Don't Cut Pills Cut Profits, Max Richtman, Medicare, Prescription Drug Prices, President Biden, Senate, Trump|

Manchin Pulls the Football Away from Schumer – and Medicare

Senator Joe Manchin has once again pulled the proverbial football away from Chuck Schumer just before the kick. After negotiating with the Senate Majority Leader over a pared-back version of the Build Back Better bill, Sen. Manchin has once again withdrawn his support - not for the entire plan, but for key components that would have helped seniors. He declared on Thursday that he would not support any new tax provisions.  One of these provisions would have closed a loophole, compelling the wealthy to pay a 3.8% investment tax.  The revenue would have been directed to the Medicare Part A trust fund, which is currently projected to run dry in 2028. 

2022-07-16T00:42:30-04:00July 15th, 2022|Congress, Democrats, Medicare, Prescription Drug Prices, Senate, Senator Joe Manchin|

Schumer-Manchin Negotiations May Yield Some Wins for Seniors

The negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) over a new budget reconciliation deal have been great fodder for political journalists, but they are also incredibly important to American seniors.  Senators Schumer and Manchin are haggling over a pared-down version of the Build Back Better legislation, which the West Virginia Senator effectively killed earlier this year, designed to pass with only Democratic votes via the reconciliation process. The new package reportedly retains some crucial items for older Americans:  prescription drug pricing reform and Medicare solvency.

2022-07-13T15:52:53-04:00July 13th, 2022|Congress, Democrats, Medicare, Prescription Drug Prices, Senate, Senator Joe Manchin|

Republican Roundtable Revives Wrongheaded Ideas for Social Security

GOP members of the House Ways and Means Committee held an all-Republican roundtable on the future of the program on June 29.  That’s a little like holding an all-Red Sox roundtable on the future of the Yankees. Republicans have spent four decades devising ways to undermine Social Security – including their triad of terrible ideas: raising the retirement age, means-testing benefits, and privatizing the program

2022-07-05T16:10:01-04:00July 1st, 2022|Democrats, privatization, Rep. John Larson, Republicans, Social Security|

All House Dems Should Cosponsor Social Security 2100 Bill

If you are represented by a Democrat in the U.S. House, chances are that your member of Congress has already cosponsored a piece of landmark legislation to boost and strengthen Social Security: Rep. John Larson’s Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust. In fact, the bill currently has 202 Democratic cosponsors (and zero Republicans). But some Democrats have not signed on as cosponsors.

2022-06-03T10:49:41-04:00May 27th, 2022|Uncategorized|

The Part D Prescription Drug Bait and Switch

Medicare Part D prescription drug beneficiaries can be in for a rude surprise after they sign up for coverage.   In an article this week in Kaiser Health News, Susan Jaffe writes that the price of a drug may jump within a month of a patient enrolling in the Part D drug plan

2022-05-06T10:51:04-04:00May 5th, 2022|Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Congress, Democrats, Medicare, Medicare Drug Coverage and Costs, Prescription Drug Prices, President Biden|

Medicare Advantage Slammed in New HHS Inspector General’s Report

We have been sounding alarm bells for many years about Medicare Advantage (MA), the privately-run health plans for seniors that are growing in popularity as an alternative to traditional Medicare. This week, an eye-opening report by the Inspector General’s office at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed some key criticisms by the National Committee and other seniors’ advocates - namely, that MA plans are denying legitimate claims and refusing to authorize reasonable medical procedures.

2022-04-29T20:33:44-04:00April 29th, 2022|Max Richtman, Medicare, Medicare Advantage|

What Does the President’s Budget Mean for Seniors?

There’s encouraging news for seniors in President Biden’s FY2023 budget, even though it does not contain everything that advocates for older Americans had hoped.  The budget, which now will be submitted to Congress, includes crucial funding for services that seniors rely upon – from the operation of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to nutrition programs under the Older Americans Act.

2022-03-28T15:13:27-04:00March 28th, 2022|Boost Social Security, Budget, Congress, COVID, Democrats, Long term care, Medicare, Prescription Drug Prices, President Biden, Social Security, Social Security Administration (SSA), Uncategorized|

Seniors’ Programs in Jeopardy if Republicans Retake Majority

Any older voters inclined to put the GOP back in control of the House and Senate in November’s elections might well remember what the Republicans have long wanted to do to their earned benefits.  As if to provide that very reminder, Senator Rick Scott, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, released a plan last week that would terminate Social Security and Medicare.

2022-03-09T17:06:29-04:00March 9th, 2022|Congress, Democrats, Election 2022, GOP, healthcare, Medicare, Payroll tax cut, Politics, President Trump, Senator Mitch McConnell, Social Security|

Seniors’ Champions in Washington State Continue to Lead the Way on Long-Term Care, Despite Roadblocks

In 2019, the state of Washington plunged headlong into the treacherous waters of public long-term care insurance with WA Cares – the first comprehensive program of its kind in the country. WA Cares was born out of the realization that most seniors will need some form of long term-care at some point in their lives.

2022-01-27T16:31:10-04:00January 27th, 2022|Democrats, Long term care, Medicaid, Medicare, Republicans|

Pending Aduhelm Coverage Decision Could Pave the Way for Lower Medicare Premiums

Medicare Part B beneficiaries have seen their monthly premiums jump to from $148.50 to $170.10 this year – one of the biggest increases in recent history. Many seniors on fixed incomes who welcomed this year’s 5.9% Social Security COLA were dismayed to find that $21 of it will be consumed by the Medicare premium bump.  But this week brought some potentially encouraging news. 

2022-03-21T12:31:59-04:00January 11th, 2022|COLAs, Congress, Medicare, Medicare premiums, Prescription Drug Prices, President Biden|

Seniors’ Voting Rights on the Line As Schumer Vows Senate Action

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has set a self-imposed deadline of January 17th – Martin Luther King Day – to pass sweeping voting rights legislation.  This will be a heavy lift given opposition from Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to adjusting the filibuster, an essential step in passing voting rights legislation without Republican votes. Nevertheless, President Biden and Hill Democrats feel compelled to try, given that the voting rights of millions of Americans – including and especially seniors – are very much at stake with the 2022 midterm elections approaching.

2022-01-18T16:56:34-04:00January 10th, 2022|Democrats, Election 2022, Republicans, Voting Rights|

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