Sanders, Dems Unveil New Bill To Protect Social Security

By Anna Cameron

As the menace of potential cuts to Social Security looms, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and his Democratic colleagues gathered in ardent support of the federal program as they introduced the Social Security Protection Act Tuesday.

“Let us be very clear - I think sometimes we take it for granted,” said Sen. Sanders. “Social Security is the most successful federal program in our nation’s history.”

In an effort to reduce the deficit and reign in federal spending, GOP legislators and certain White House aides have suggested cuts to Social Security, in addition to potential privatization of the program and a raise of the retirement age.

However, Democrats insist that consideration of Social Security in light of deficit reduction makes little sense.

“This a phony way to solve the deficit crisis because there is no deficit in Social Security,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)

“Social Security has not contributed one nickel to the federal budget deficit or the national debt,” added Sanders. “In fact, Social Security today has a $2.6 trillion surplus that is projected to grow to $4.2 trillion in 2023.”

Similar to the point of order requirement in S.245, the Social Security Protection Act would establish a point of order against any legislation that threatened to reduce benefits, raise the retirement age, or privatize the program. Such an order could only be waived by a two-thirds vote in the Senate and the House.

“We want to make sure that any deliberations related to Social Security have…due diligence,…have real thought, and [are] not…caught up in the passions of whatever is the current fad of reckless and impetuous and swashbuckling cuts,” asserted Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.).


Trustees Report Gives Mixed Signals, Boomers Set To Milk Social Security

Experts believe that the recently released Social Security Trustees Report revealed mixed signals about the program’s short and long-term sustainability.

Chief Actuary at the Social Security Administration Stephen Goss said the report shows both positive and negative forecasts for the short and long term, respectively. While the national deficit will spike in the near future, Goss said that in the long run, national deficit will drop as provisions in the health care overhaul bill begin to materialize.

Goss and a panel of experts said they believe that, although Social Security OASI and DI Trust Funds are adequately financed until 2040 and 2018, long term imbalances need to be addressed. The oldest baby boomers will turn 65 in 2011 and as more of them begin to file for Social Security, the number of people pumping cash into the program decreases, consequently hiking prices for future generations.

According to a statement, “the sooner action is taken to address the long-run financial imbalances, the more reform options will be available, and the more time there will be to phase in changes so that those affected will have adequate time to prepare.”

Administration Officials Tout New Report On Status Of Medicare

The Democrats’ sweeping healthcare reform law will extend the life of the Medicare hospital insurance fund by 12 years, according to a new government report on the status of Medicare and Social Security.

According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, the nation’s Medicare trust fund should stay solvent until 2029. In addition, the healthcare overhaul, passed earlier this year, improves the long-term outlook for the Social Security trust fund, which analysts previously warned will be depleted by 2037. In 2010, Social Security expenditures will exceed receipts for the first time in more than 25 years.

While the short-term prognosis for the two big entitlements is slightly troublesome, Geithner said the Medicare figures are encouraging.

“These are very, very substantial improvements,” he said during a briefing on Thursday.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius added that the “outlook for Medicare has improved greatly,” as a result of the new healthcare law.

Sebelius, however, said that Congress must work on finding a permanent solution to the way in which physicians that accept Medicare are reimbursed by the federal government. Congress recently extended the “doc-fix” as it is known, but officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have concluded that continued temporary fixes will in the long run negate some of the savings produced by the Affordable Care Act.

New Report Calls For Social Security Reforms

By Laura Smith - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

A new report commissioned by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) says that in order to keep the Social Security system stable, the Social Security Administration must lift the cap on the earnings from which workers and employers pay Social Security taxes, broaden the base for Social Security taxes and gradually lower some future benefits.

“We have to open the debate up and take the kind of fresh look that’s going to help us reshape our retirement income framework to do a better job overall. We want to push forward the social security part of that debate,” Janice Gregory, president of NASI, said Friday.

The report goes on to recommend balance in Social Security’s future finances, such as scheduling modest rate increases in the future when funds will be needed and dedicating progressive taxes to pay part of Social Security’s future costs.

Ditching Medicare Part A May Have Financial Reprucussions, Warns Lawyer

By Ravi Bhatia, Talk Radio News Service

Kent Masterson Brown, lead attorney for plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the Department of Health and Human Services, warned Tuesday that seniors who attempt to leave their Medicare policies may face financial repercussions.

“[The three internal rules of the Social Security Administration] allow you to get out of Medicare Part A, but if you do, you lose all your social security retirement benefits, and you are required to repay every benefit that had been paid to you,” Brown said. “They won’t let you out until all the money has been collected.”

The lawsuit, Hall V. Sebelius, seeks to prohibit the Social Security Administration and the Dept. of Health and Human Services from requiring seniors to take part Medicare A through policies which Masterson contends were improperly implemented.

“The frightening thing about a case like this is an agency that’s just doing anything it wants,” Brown said. “Keeping agencies in tow, making them do only what Congress has dictated is fundamentally essential to the republic.”

Government lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case in May on the grounds that the plaintiffs have not been harmed by the policies and hence have no standing to sue. In addition, the lawyers argued that the plaintiffs have not exhausted all of the administrative remedies available to them before suing.