WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) wrote a Letter to the Editor in the National Review charting a path forward on Social Security and Medicare which are facing insolvency within the next decade. Cassidy has a “Big Idea” that will build a bridge to solvency and secure America’s retirement program for decades to come.
“Social Security will be insolvent within the next decade. Medicare will be insolvent in even less time. By law, when Social Security hits insolvency, there will be a 23 percent cut in Social Security benefits. But as I’ve written in the pages of the National Review, there is a serious, thoughtful, bipartisan proposal in Congress that can offer us a third way,” wrote Dr. Cassidy.
“We could take serious steps towards saving Social Security tomorrow if there were a president in the White House willing to work with Congress. Unfortunately, front-runners seem more interested in cowering behind talking points than in meeting this challenge,” concluded Dr. Cassidy.
Read the full letter here or below:
There’s a Third Option on Social Security and Medicare
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA)
The Editors are correct in their latest piece on Social Security. They point out that leading presidential candidates are both ignoring the fact that Social Security and Medicare will go insolvent and bashing Republicans who dare to be honest with the American people. This a tack that previously only Democrats took.
Social Security will be insolvent within the next decade. Medicare will be insolvent in even less time. By law, when Social Security hits insolvency, there will be a 23 percent cut in Social Security benefits. But as I’ve written in the pages of the National Review, there is a serious, thoughtful, bipartisan proposal in Congress that can offer us a third way.
Our working group came up with a solution that prevents the 23 percent benefit cut without any major adjustments to benefits or taxes. We call it the “Big Idea.” We create a fund separate from Social Security, and we invest that fund in the long-term strength of the U.S. economy. As that money grows, we use it to shore up the Social Security Trust Fund, make the program fairer, and save it for all future generations.
Informed by over two years of research and collaboration, we had a comprehensive product with significant support. The highest levels of the White House were aware and read in, but they saw the issue as political fodder for Biden’s reelection campaign.
We could take serious steps towards saving Social Security tomorrow if there were a president in the White House willing to work with Congress. Unfortunately, front-runners seem more interested in cowering behind talking points than in meeting this challenge.
Background
Cassidy led a bipartisan working group with U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) to preserve and protect Social Security.
This spring, he released the inaugural Bill on the Hill video where he asked Capitol Hill visitors from across the country their thoughts on the looming 24% benefit cut to Social Security and presented his “Big Idea” to save, strengthen, and secure America’s retirement system.
At a Senate Finance Hearing last year, he questioned U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on the Biden administration’s lack of a plan to address Social Security at a Senate Finance hearing. He also delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling on President Biden to honor his pledge to protect Social Security and meet with a bipartisan group of senators discussing options to save the program.
Cassidy has discussed the “Big Idea” at a public forum with AARP on the future of Social Security, outlined his Social Security plan in a fireside chat with the Bipartisan Policy Committee, and authored an op-ed in the National Review and Washington Examiner.
In March 2023, the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds moved up the Social Security insolvency deadline a full year. One month prior, the Congressional Budget Office updated its estimates saying Social Security is heading toward a financial cliff in 2032. They found Medicare and Social Security spending rapidly outpacing federal tax revenues further hastening the insolvency deadlines.
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