Alliance for Retired Americans Executive Director Rich Fiesta joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the recent positive news about the Social Security and Medicare Trust Fund. Fiesta also discussed potential solutions to increase the years of funding and an update on several lawsuits alleging the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is unconstitutional.
The Social Security and Medicare Trustees recently released their annual report. Due to a significant uptick in the economy and more people paying into Social Security, the Retirement Trust Fund gained a year of solvency, extending through 2035. Fiesta also shared that the Disability Trust Fund has been fully funded for a few more decades after policies were enacted by Congress in recent years. The Social Security and Medicare Trust Fund is split into two funds: the Retirement and Survivor Trust Fund and the Disability Trust Fund.
A group of representatives in the House of Representatives is working to raise the retirement age from 67 to 69. Fiesta discussed what would happen if the increase were to happen. He also shared how those forced to retire earlier in life are negatively impacted by the current laws. Fiesta said that if the artificial cap on what workers pay into the program were removed, the funding would be extended further than if these representatives raised the retirement age.
Finally, Fiesta discussed Medicare drug prices and what is being done to lower the cost of necessary prescriptions. The pharmaceutical industry has filed over a dozen lawsuits in federal courts nationwide claiming that the Inflation Reduction Act is unconstitutional. Fiesta discussed the results of several of these lawsuits and why the IRA was deemed constitutional. On Sept. 1, the agency that runs Medicare will release newly proposed prices for the top 10 prescriptions used most under Medicare after negotiations with the drug companies. These price reductions will come into effect in 2026. Fiesta also talked about the greater transparency and education these negotiations and reductions will bring for the patients taking these drugs.
For more from Fiesta, please listen to the show above.