NCPSSM Endorsement Medicare & Social Security Fair Share Act

The Honorable Sheldon Whitehouse
Chairman, Senate Committee on the Budget
624 Dirksen Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Brendan Boyle
Ranking Member, House Budget Committee
204 Cannon House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Senator Whitehouse and Representative Boyle:

On behalf of the millions of members and supporters of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, I write to endorse your legislation, the "Medicare & Social Security Fair Share Act." The National Committee commends you for introducing this legislation, which ensures 75-year solvency for the Old-Age and Survivors (OASI) and the Disability Insurance (DI) Social Security Trust Funds, and the Hospital Insurance (HI) Medicare Trust Fund. Your bill should give all Americans confidence that Social Security and Medicare will be there for them when they need these critical programs.

The "Medicare & Social Security Fair Share Act" strengthens Social Security's financial foundations by increasing revenue dedicated to support the program through an extension of the payroll tax to the wages and unearned income of taxpayers in excess of $400,000. Over time, the provision establishing a new wage threshold for payroll taxes would completely eliminate the cap on Social Security taxes. Applying payroll taxes to unearned income better reflects the evolution of income for our nation's workforce, as higher-income workers receive increasingly smaller portions of their income from wages. While the National Committee supports both of these provisions, we believe that providing additional Social Security benefits for the enhanced contributions would better preserve the earned nature of the Social Security program.

Social Security has been a bedrock program protecting the financial security of American workers in the case of retirement, disability or death. However, Social Security benefits have not been improved in over half a century and some of their value has eroded over the years. We believe the solvency extensions in your legislation would be greatly enhanced if they were paired with benefit improvements that meet the needs of today's workers and beneficiaries.

In addition, your bill extends the solvency of the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) fund by increasing the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) by 1.2 percent (to 5 percent) for taxpayers over $400,000 in income. Your bill also closes the current loophole that allows the owners of pass-through businesses like hedge funds, private equity firms, and certain oil and gas companies to avoid Medicare taxes by requiring such taxpayers earning over $400,000 to contribute to Medicare and Social Security on their pass-through business income.

The National Committee generally supports the provisions included in your bill and endorses the "Medicare & Social Security Fair Share Act." This bill represents a bold and forceful step on behalf of seniors and all Americans by strengthening and safeguarding Social Security for future beneficiaries. We look forward to working with you on this important legislation.

Sincerely,

Max Richtman
President and CEO