Schumer: Republican Plan To Privatize Social Security, Medicare DOA

Newsroom

February 15, 2011

Washington, DC—Senator Charles E. Schumer made the following statement today regarding Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to eliminate Social Security and Medicare as we know them:

“If Paul Ryan’s Roadmap is any indication, the House Republicans’ idea of entitlement reform will be privatizing Social Security and turning Medicare into a voucher system. Any such plans will be dead on arrival in the Senate. Democrats will fight any attempt to break our promise to America’s seniors. We want to extend the life of Social Security and eliminate waste in Medicare, but we will not go along with proposals that seek to end these programs.”

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Ryan’s Roadmap Would Privatize Social Security, End Medicare As We Know It.

Congressional Budget Office: “Roadmap” Will Privatize Social Security.  The CBO wrote in a letter to Ryan about his roadmap, “A system of individual accounts would be established in 2012. In that year, workers who are age 55 or younger would be able to participate in voluntary individual accounts, funded with a portion of their payroll taxes.” [Congressional Budget Office, 1/27/10]

•  Roadmap Would Cut Social Security Benefits.  “The Roadmap specifies reductions in traditional retirement benefits through progressive price indexing for many workers who are age 55 or younger in 2011.”  [Congressional Budget Office, 1/27/10]

Ryan’s Plan Would Convert Medicare to a Voucher Program, Vastly Cutting Benefits. “People who become eligible for Medicare after 2020 would no longer have access to a defined set of benefits from any participating health care provider. Instead, they would receive a voucher worth $11,000 (on average) to be used to purchase private health insurance… Moreover, the Ryan plan imposes no requirement that private insurers actually offer health coverage to Medicare beneficiaries at an affordable price, or at all. Some beneficiaries, particularly the frail elderly, people with disabilities, and those with very modest incomes, could end up uninsured or heavily underinsured.” [Congressional Budget Office, 1/27/10; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 7/7/10]

•  Roadmap Would Raise the Retirement Age For Medicare.  According to the CBO the Ryan plan would eventually raise the retirement age for Medicare from 65 to 69 ½ years old.  [Congressional Budget Office, 1/27/10]