Pelosi Statement on Social Security Trustees Report
Pelosi Statement on Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports
Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the reports of the Social Security and Medicare Trustees:
"Today's Trustees reports reinforce one basic reality - in its current form, Social Security will be able to pay full benefits until 2041 and even after that will be able to pay 74 percent of benefits. This finding flatly contradicts Republican efforts to manufacture a 'crisis' in Social Security to justify a partial privatization plan that is unaffordable, unnecessary, and unwise. The Majority's proposal would require trillions of dollars of additional debt and would slash benefits by more than 40 percent.
"Democrats recognize that Social Security does face a challenge down the road, and we are committed to ensuring that American families receive the secure retirement they have earned. This can only occur with a bipartisan effort to strengthen, not weaken Social Security, and Democrats stand ready to work with the Majority once they stop insisting on private accounts.
"The Medicare Trustees reaffirmed what they stated last year. Last year, the Trustees reported that Medicare's solvency had decreased from 2026 to 2019, which is a direct result of the enormous subsidies to HMOs and other privatization provisions in the 2003 Medicare bill. The news this year is basically the same, with insolvency projected at 2020.
"Today's report sends a clear signal that Republicans should drop their efforts to drain trillions of dollars to pay for risky private accounts and should stop their mismanagement of Medicare."