Candidates Differ on Social Security

By Larry Sussman
Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate candidates, Ron Johnson and Russ Feingold, differ sharply on dealing with Social Security, Medicare and other issues of importance to older voters.

The state’s voters will decide Nov. 8 whether to reelect Johnson, a Republican, or replace him with Feingold, a former three-term Democratic senator. The result of this hard-fought campaign may help determine which party controls the Senate.

Johnson, 61, is a business owner who defeated Feingold in 2010 by about 105,000 votes. He is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He is a University of Minnesota graduate with an accounting degree.

Feingold, 63, won the Senate seat in 1992 and was reelected in 1998 and 2004. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he practiced law in Madison and served in the Wisconsin Senate from 1983 to 1993. Feingold taught at Marquette, Lawrence and Stanford universities after his 2010 defeat.

Johnson and Feingold emailed responses to Bulletin questions. Feingold also answered several questions from a reporter.

AARP has been asking presidential and congressional candidates to take a stand on how they would ensure Social Security’s ability to pay full and adequate benefits in the future. If no action is taken, the program will be able to pay only about 75 percent of promised benefits after 2034.

Johnson said Social Security and Medicare have been hurt by slow economic growth, which he blames on what he calls an enormous regulatory burden, an uncompetitive tax system and restrictive energy policies.

Solving these problems and improving the economy, he said, “would generate trillions of dollars of additional revenue needed to protect Social Security and Medicare—without raising taxes.”

In 2011, Johnson voted for a federal budget plan, proposed by then-Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), in which Medicare would stop paying fees to health care providers. Instead, a fixed amount of an individual’s private insurance plan premium would be paid by Medicare directly to the insurance company. The plan was defeated.

Feingold said Congress should raise the earnings limit on the Social Security tax, currently $118,500. “When somebody makes a whole lot of money, I don’t think that it is unreasonable to pay more. Even a modest increase for those at the high end would help keep Social Security solvent into the future.”

Medicare drug prices
The candidates also disagree in their approach to Medicare.

Feingold said he wants to strengthen Medicare “so Americans do not spend their older years worrying about paying for care for themselves or a spouse.” He underscored that Wisconsin’s rural seniors should not be hurt by a lack of nearby facilities and physicians.

Feingold said Medicare should be allowed to solicit bids from drug companies. He cited Congressional Budget Office estimates that Medicare could save $123 billion over 10 years and reduce prescription costs to Medicare beneficiaries through competitive bidding. He blamed Republicans in Congress, including Johnson, for blocking bidding.

Johnson said the best way to control prescription drug costs “is to encourage choice and competition in the marketplace.”

He added that hundreds of companies compete in the Medicare Part D drug program and “aggressively negotiate lower drug prices for their customers.” Consequently, “more drugs are available in Medicare Part D than are available through the single-payer Department of Veterans Affairs system.”

In the area of caregiving, Johnson has expressed concern over a bill that would allow a caregiver a 30 percent tax credit (up to $3,000 a year) for long-term care expenses that exceed $2,000. He said the bill would add “greater complexity to our already uncompetitive and economically damaging tax code.”

Feingold said he would support the bill because it would help people stay in their homes and provide financial support for the unpaid family members who aid them. “I support paid family leave for people to get the necessary time away from their jobs to care for family members,” he said.

This fall, AARP officials hope voters will ask congressional candidates if they will commit to take action to make Social Security financially sound. To find out where the presidential and congressional candidates stand on Social Security, go to 2016takeastand.org.

Larry Sussman is a writer living in Fox Point, Wisc.