Biden’s Budget Spares Social Security and Medicare Cuts
TL/DR –
President Joe Biden’s 2025 fiscal year budget proposal requests strengthening and protecting Medicare and Social Security. The budget proposal amounts to $7.3 trillion and covers a wide range of sectors, including healthcare, child care, and education. The proposed budget plans to extend the solvency of Social Security without cutting benefits, to increase the funding for the Social Security Administration, to permanently extend the life of the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, and to expand certain provisions under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, among other things.
President Joe Biden’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal
In his recently released 2025 fiscal year budget, President Joe Biden underscores the necessity of strengthening Medicare and Social Security. Revealed first in his State of the Union address, these aspects are key to his re-election campaign.
The $7.3 trillion budget, released on March 11, prioritizes healthcare, education, and child care, and proposes expansions to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 2022 benefits.
Despite facing potential challenges in the divided House and Senate, the budget offers a glimpse of Biden’s goals for a second term.
The budget firmly opposes any propositions of Medicare and Social Security cuts or privatization. The administration’s proposal works to ensure that Americans who have invested in these programs will receive their due benefits.
The budget addresses the potential 20% benefit cut in 2034 due to the long-term shortfall of Social Security Administration’s (SSA) trust fund reserves. The proposal promises to work with Congress to fortify Social Security without slashing benefits, by raising funds from high-income taxpayers.
Among proposed improvements to the SSA are a $1.3 billion increase to hire more staff, update IT systems, and enhance phone services for seniors.
The budget also aims to permanently extend the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund’s life by increasing the Medicare tax rate on income above $400k, closing existing Medicare tax loopholes and channeling Net Investment Income Tax revenue into the HI trust fund.
Inflation Reduction Act Expansions
Proposals also include expanding certain drug provisions under the IRA, like the Medicare drug pricing negotiation program to cover more drugs upon their launch and extending the $2,000 out-of-pocket prescription drug cost cap to the commercial market.
Additionally, the budget proposes expanding the $35 per month cap on insulin copayments, currently covering only Medicare beneficiaries, to all insulin-dependent patients. It also proposes a cap of $2 per month on Medicare Part D cost-sharing for specific generic drugs for chronic conditions.
For the full 188-page budget, visit the White House website.
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