📋 Social Security and Medicare Must be Protected (AARP Article)

I feel all seniors should call their senator and voice our concerns.  In a time of chaos and feeling like what can I do?  I called my senator and got a live person and I voiced my concerns about social security and Medicare.  They took down my message and said they would forward to my elected senator.  Luckily our senator here in Vegas is on our side.  I got an email that she would do what she can to protect our programs.  What will happen I don't know, but at least I feel I tried!

She lost me in about the 1st paragraph when speaking about the word “entitlement”.  Instead of trying to teach and disclaim misinformation, she as the CEO of this organization is again speaking incorrectly to millions of beneficiaries that read this article.  

Entitlement is a government term meaning that the benefit is given by a law.  IOW, a person is entitled to a benefit based on the law of the land.

GAO.gov - Entitlement Programs 

per the link ~

Entitlement programs are either financed from Federal trust funds or paid out of the general revenues

We need to get on the same page as our legislators in the use of this term - it is not a  derogatory term.

I think everybody agrees with the goal of fixing the financial problems of Social Security and Medicare.  Every year for the last 15 years, the Trustees have ended their Letter to the Public on the annual Trustee report with the same words.

[QUOTE]  Lawmakers have many options for changes that would reduce or eliminate the long-term financing shortfalls. Taking action sooner rather than later will allow consideration of a broader range of solutions and provide more time to phase in changes so that the public has adequate time to prepare.[end Quote]

We are now running out of time for any smooth action - the changes that Reagan and his Democratic Congress made in 1983 took (40) years to completely accomplish.  We have now a few years 8 - 10 left according to the Trustees.

The fixing the of the program is not a matter of disagreement between anybody.  The discourse that seems to stop any true reform is in the HOW.  And there is lots of differences of opinion in that realm.  It will be more than one fix.

SSA.gov - Office of the Chief Actuary's Estimates of Proposals to Change the Social Security Program   We have discussed many of these ideas ad nauseam on this very board thru the years.  

It will be interesting to see which of the many proposals that the AARP might support in this realm.  Increase income or decrease benefits or a bit of both to get the programs on firm financial ground for the long term.

In fact, I am eager to see which side of the tax of Social Security benefits that seems to be kind of front and center right now.  Do we give the beneficiaries that pay these taxes (me included) a break and remove them as the current Administration wants as a part of the tax reform this year at the risk of an earlier demise of the Social Security Trust Fund - taxes on benefits added over $ 55 BILLION dollars to the Social Security Trust Fund in 2024.

SSA.gov - Trust Fund Data 1957 - 2024 

Which way will AARP swing on this taxation on benefits matter?