Social Security
Privatization
I am opposed to the
privatization of Social Security system proposed by some members of the
Republican Leadership because it would undermine the Social Security system on
which so many Americans rely. Privatization would replace guaranteed benefits
with benefits dependent on a worker's luck or skills in investing in a stock
market which has had at least nine major downturns since 1956. It would also
drive up administrative costs, which are now one percent, and could go as high
as the system in Chile
where private investment companies collect fees between 15 and 20 percent. For
these reasons, I believe that any proposal to reform Social Security must be
examined carefully to ensure that the solvency of the program is not undermined
in any way and the benefits are not diminished.
Read more about my position on
Social Security
Social
Security Reform: Current Issues and Legislation (Library
of Congress)
Medicare & Prescription
Drugs
As you may already know,
the Medicare program is projected to run short of funds by the year 2015.
I can assure you that I have been closely following the Medicare debate in Congress,
and I will carefully examine any proposals that would make changes to the
Medicare program. I am especially interested in protecting current
benefits, providing greater coverage for prescription drugs, and reducing fraud
in the system. I would also like to take steps to remedy the harsh
effects that the Medicare cutbacks and changes in the payment system, which
were included in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, have had on the Medicare
program and our nation's hospitals.
Read more about my position on
Medicare & prescription drugs
Nursing Home Safety
In February 2003, an
early morning fire at the Greenwood Health Center,
a nursing home in Hartford,
CT, claimed the lives of sixteen
residents. A similar fire in Nashville,
TN later that year killed fifteen
residents. In both cases, these facilities lacked an automatic fire sprinkler
system.
On December 8, 2005, I
joined Representative Peter King (R-NY) in introducing the Nursing Home
Fire Safety Act (HR 4491). The bill addresses the primary
obstacle – the cost - to installing sprinklers by directing the Secretary of
Health and Human Services to establish both a loan program and need-based grant
program to aid nursing homes in tackling the high cost of installing
sprinklers.
Read more about my position
on nursing home safety
Notch
Baby Legislation
As you may already know,
the “Notch Baby” situation is a result of the Social Security Amendments of
1977, which sought to correct a flaw in a 1972 law which attempted to increase
Social Security benefits to keep pace with inflation. The 1972 law raised the
eventual benefits of future retirees in addition to providing regular inflation
adjustments to people already receiving benefits. These future retirees,
however, would have already earned higher benefits as their wages would have
been higher as a result of inflation, and this “dual indexing” threatened to
bankrupt the Social Security system in four or five years. This problem was
unforeseen by the drafters of the 1972 law since they did not anticipate the
high inflation rates of the 1970s.
When Congress addressed
this issue in 1977, they made the fix applicable to future retirees, since they
did not want to cut the benefit rates for the retirees who were already
receiving the unanticipated increases. The 1977 law resulted in immediate
benefit disparities between the people first affected by it (those born after
1916), who have not been receiving the overly generous benefits that those born
before 1917 have been receiving.
Congressman Ralph Hall of
Texas has introduced the Notch Fairness Act of 2007 (H.R. 368).
This bill would allow workers who turn 65 after 1981 and before 1992 to choose
either a $5,000 lump sum payment over four years or a more generous benefit
computation over ten years. Currently, this bill has been referred to the House Ways and
Means Subcommittee on Social Security, where it awaits further action.
While in Connecticut, Congressman
Larson often visits senior centers throughout the First Congressional District
to discuss a variety of important issues, including: prescription drugs,
Medicare HMOs, and Social Security.
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