Social Security and Medicare

Enacted in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Social Security has served as the ultimate safety net for America's retirees.  This social insurance program was created during the Great Depression when pensions were almost non-existent and a majority of seniors were unable to support themselves after retirement.

Enacted in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Social Security has served as the ultimate safety net for America's retirees.  This social insurance program was created during the Great Depression when pensions were almost non-existent and a majority of seniors were unable to support themselves after retirement.

As a cornerstone of our society, Social Security guarantees that if you work hard and play by the rules, you will have a source of income to provide financial security and stability after you retire.  Year after year, it continues to deliver on its promise.

Thanks to Social Security, millions of seniors can live their lives with dignity and independence.  More than 55 million Americans, including over 87,000 retirees in our Manhattan Congressional District, rely on Social Security’s guaranteed benefits to put food on the table, stay in their homes and to make ends meet during their retirement.  Six in ten seniors rely on this important program for more than half of their income.

In 1965, Medicare and Medicaid were added to Social Security.  Much like Social Security, Medicare provides for seniors (65 and older) and individuals with permanent disabilities medical coverage which they might not be able to afford otherwise.  Medicaid is just as important as it is one of the most crucial safety nets for the most vulnerable among us.

Democrats have long stood by these vital programs by voting to strengthen it in the 1950s and 1960s and by preserving its solvency in the 1970s and 1980s.  However, in recent years, the Republican leadership in Congress has sought to undermine Social Security or destroy it by cutting the program's retirement and survivor benefits for American workers.  The Republican plan would divert four out of every ten dollars of the Social Security payroll contributions into private accounts.  This is unacceptable as it would threaten the ability of the Social Security Trust Funds to pay benefits to today’s seniors.

Another recent matter regarding Medicare has been physician reimbursment.  Congress allocates funds every year toward Medicare expenses.  The body that makes recomendations on that allocation is the Medicare Payment Advisory Comission.  If actual expenditure is greater than what had been predicted then that Comission informs Congress and Congress then allocate less funds toward payments for physician services the next year.  Current practice by Congress has been to enact a series of short-term measures called "doc fix".  These measures blocks the cuts that would usually occur and freeze the rates for one year periods.  This translates to physicians having increasing costs as time passes yet the reimbursment from Medicare remains constant meaning that they lose money.

I stand firmly with President Barack Obama in opposing any efforts to privatize these programs.  I reject the idea that the future of hard-working Americans should be subject to the volatility of financial markets as some Republicans have advocated.  We should not cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans at the expense of gutting the lifeline that helps tens of millions of Americans to survive.  I promise to continue opposing any budget proposals that undermine Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Congressman Charles B. Rangel's Legislation:

Narrowing Exceptions for Withholding Taxes Act of 2013, H.R. 348 (Sponsor)
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means
Amends the Internal Revenue Code and title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Benefits) of the Social Security Act to require a shareholder of a subchapter S corporation engaged in a professional service business to include all items of income or loss attributable to such business in determining such shareholder's net earnings from self-employment for purposes of computing employment tax liability.                                                                                       

3% Withholding Repeal and Job Creation Act, H.R. 674 (Co-sponsor)
Status: 11/21/2011 - Became Public Law No: 112-56 (Signed into law by President Barack Obama)
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the imposition of 3 percent withholding on certain payments made to vendors by government entities, to modify the calculation of modified adjusted gross income for purposes of determining eligibility for certain healthcare-related programs, and for other purposes.

Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010, H.R. 4994 (Co-sponsor)
Status: 12/15/2010 - Became Public Law No: 111-309 (Signed into law by President Barack Obama)
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to set the 2011 update to the single conversion factor in the formula for the physicians' fee schedule at zero (thus freezing the physician payment update for 2011). It requires the conversion factor for 2012 and subsequent years to be computed as if the zero update for 2011 had never applied.

Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act 2010, H.R. 3962 (Co-sponsor)
Status: 6/25/2010 - Became Public Law No: 111-192 (Signed into law by President Barack Obama)
This act provides a physician payment update and pension funding relief.

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