AMAC IN ACTION
A MAC CEO Rebecca Weber was invited to testify before Congress at a Senate Special Committee on Aging field hear- ing held in The Villages, Florida, in November. Committee member Senator Rick Scott (FL) invited Ms. Weber to testify on behalf of AMAC members regard- ing the impact of the Biden adminis- tration policies on seniors. When asked how AMAC members have been impacted, Weber explained that while the Biden admin- istration touted the largest cost of living benefit increase in 2023, they failed to mention that the increase is directly tied to inflation and falls short of the real increased cost of living — things like food, electricity, gasoline, and medicine. Ms. Weber also sounded the alarm warning that America’s Social Secu- rity program faces a dire threat. According to the Social Security Trustees, the program’s trust fund reserves will be fully exhausted by 2035, forcing an across-the-board cut in benefits of at least 20 percent. The Congressional Budget Office offers an even more pessimistic projection — insolvency by 2032 with a 25-percent cut. Ms. Weber addressed the pending insolvency by presenting AMAC’s Social Security Guarantee, a plan that keeps Social Security solvent while
guaranteeing an increase in bene- fits without increasing taxes (see AMAC.us/social-security ) and provides a way for all earners to save more for retirement. Weber also shared how the Inflation Reduction Act will impact American life expectancy due to the provision in the bill that allows for govern- ment price-fixing of some drugs for the Medicare program, as well as the consequences of inflation on seniors’ savings and fixed incomes.
Ms. Weber elaborated on how the Biden administration is poking holes in the safety net for seniors, noting that the number of seniors living in poverty has increased by nearly one million, with more than 10 percent now living below the poverty line. Ms. Weber was joined at the hearing with testimony from Robert Moffit of the Heritage Foundation and Hayden Dublois of the Foundation for Govern- ment Accountability.
46 • AMAC Magazine
Powered by FlippingBook