Despite the sharp partisan divide in Washington, two surveys by The Senior Citizens League found broad agreement on several proposals that would bolster Social
Security and Medicare. The findings come as the nation finds itself in a growing a retirement crisis. Even before the coronavirus-caused recession, the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that about 48 percent of households headed by people aged 55 and over had no retirement savings. That situation has been made even worse in 2020 and 2021 as older workers have lost jobs or seen their work schedules reduced due to the pandemic. The top five
areas of consensus about proposed solutions:
- Drug prices. Congress should allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices by tying U.S. prices to those paid in other industrialized countries where
prices are lower.
- Drug price increases. Congress should restrict prescription drug price increases to no more than the rate of inflation.
- Health care fees. Congress should require health-care providers and insurers to accept fees no more than 20 percent higher than Medicare-approved
fees as settlement.
- Social Security benefits. Congress should strengthen Social Security benefits by boosting benefits by about 2 percent (about $30 on average) and tie
the annual cost-of-living adjustment to the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly.
- Social Security payroll taxes. Congress should change the law to apply the Social Security payroll tax to all earnings instead of the first $142,800
to strengthen program funding.
You can find the full article at The Senior Citizens League.