In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden vowed to protect Social Security and Medicare, stating, “If anyone here tries to cut Social Security or Medicare or raise the retirement age, I will stop them.”
Biden emphasized the need to address the solvency of these programs, suggesting lifting the annual payroll tax cap to ensure the wealthy contribute proportionately.
Currently, the trust funds supporting Social Security are projected to run out by 2034, affecting 80% of benefits. Biden called for making the wealthy pay their fair share by removing the cap on payroll taxes for those earning over $168,600 annually.
The President highlighted the disparity, noting that workers with $1 million in gross annual wages stopped contributing to Social Security by March 2.
While Biden hasn’t proposed a specific plan, his campaign advocated applying the payroll tax to incomes over $400,000, enhancing benefits for lower-income individuals. Democrats have bills proposing similar changes.
Republicans’ recent move to create a fiscal commission to evaluate Social Security and Medicare solvency raised concerns among advocates. Critics fear it may lead to benefit cuts, with Biden asserting that Republicans would cut Social Security and favour tax cuts for the wealthy.
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Biden also outlined initiatives to support seniors, including expanding Medicare negotiations to 50 medications per year and establishing minimum staffing levels for nursing homes.
Advocacy groups praised the President’s commitment to seniors and called for bipartisan efforts to strengthen and expand vital programs.
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