Senior Citizens
As of spring 2023, the Social Security Trust Fund is projected to become depleted in 2034, with 77% of benefits payable at that time. The Disability Insurance Trust Fund asset reserves are not projected to become depleted during the 75-year projection period.
Two key estimates this year extended the life of Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund: the Medicare Trustees report moved its estimate from 2026 to 2028, and the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate moved from 2027 to 2030.
Congressman Bishop agrees that Congress needs to act sooner rather than later to ensure that Social Security and Medicare remain strong in the future. Such options should include a balanced approach such as a mix of revenue raisers but also long-term structural reforms.
Medicare has been vital to the health care needs of older Americans. Social Security also has been one of our nation’s most successful anti-poverty programs. Social Security income has helped seniors stay above the poverty line.
Congressman Bishop will do everything that he can to ensure that these two vital programs remain strong now and into the future. For example, he supported legislation capping monthly copayments for insulin products at $35 per month for Medicare beneficiaries which took effect beginning in 2023.
More on Senior Citizens
WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) voted in support of H.R. 2062, the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act, a bill he cosponsored. This bill would restore important and well-established workplace protections for older Americans that were weakened in 2009 by the U.S. Supreme Court. The bill passed with bipartisan support by a vote of 247-178 and now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration.
WASHINGTON, DC – On Friday, March 19, 2021, Representatives Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA-02) and Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA-01) introduced H.R. 2080, the Seniors Access to Vaccines Ensured (SAVE) Act of 2021. This bipartisan bill will create a temporary Medicare non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) benefit during the length of the public health emergency to transport seniors to and from COVID-19 vaccination appointments.
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), Chairman of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, H.R. 842:
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), Chairman of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, released the following statement after receiving a briefing from FDA Commissioner Hahn and the Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Dr. Peter Marks, on the details of FDA‘s efforts so far to review and authorize vaccines to prevent COVID-19: