
Will Trump's budget protect Medicare and Social Security?
His budgets have sought cuts. President Trump vowed Thursday that he “will protect Medicare and Social Security” — a promise akin to one he made as a candidate in 2016. But throughout his first term, he repeatedly tried to cut these programs in his proposed budgets.
Did president Trump's 2020 budget cut Medicare by $845 billion?
If you add up the proposed Medicare changes in President Trump’s 2020 budget, it looks like he would cut the program by $845 billion over the next decade.
Is Trump defunding Social Security and Medicare with payroll tax defunds?
President Donald Trump's Saturday decision to sign an executive order to defer payroll taxes has fueled concerns that he is attempting to defund Social Security and Medicare, with the latest order drawing criticism from conservatives and liberals alike.
How will trump's health care reform plan change Medicaid?
But Trump is envisioning changing Medicaid altogether; his budget proposes transforming the current pay-as-needed system to a block grant, where states are given a capped lump-sum fund that doesn’t grow with increased need or rising costs. The budget proposes a $1.2 trillion “Market-Based Health Care Grant.”

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Trump usually includes new material in major speeches. Not tonight
President Trump spoke for roughly 70 minutes on Thursday, one of the longest convention speeches in modern history.
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How much will Trump spend on Medicaid in 2020?
Over the next 10 years, Trump’s 2020 budget proposal aims to spend $1.5 trillion less on Medicaid — instead allocating $1.2 trillion in a block-grant program to states — $25 billion less on Social Security, and $845 billion less on Medicare (some of that is reclassified to a different department). Their intentions are to cut benefits ...
How much is Medicare cut?
But $269 billion of that figure is reclassified under the Department of Health and Human Services, bringing the Medicare cuts to $575 billion. As Vox explained, the administration says it will achieve these cost reductions by targeting wasteful spending and provider payments and lowering prescription drug costs.
How much will the Social Security cut?
In all, the cuts to Social Security amount to $25 billion over the next 10 years, cutting roughly $10 billion from the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, which the administration says will be found through cutting down on fraud — a common conservative talking point.
What are the changes to Medicaid and Social Security?
But when it comes to Trump’s proposed changes to Medicaid and Social Security, the intent is unambiguous: These are cuts to benefits. The 2020 budget’s Medicaid reforms include adding work requirements and repealing Medicaid expansion and one of the most successful policies within the Affordable Care Act.
Will Trump cut Medicare?
President Donald Trump’s 2020 budget breaks one of his biggest campaign promises to voters: that he would leave Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare untouched. “I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid,” Trump told the Daily Signal, a conservative publication affiliated ...
Does Medicare Part D raise out of pocket costs?
Medicare Part D is the only area of these reforms that could raise out-of-pocket drug prices for some while lowering it for others. Otherwise, premiums, deductibles, and copays would largely be left unaffected. Unsurprisingly, the Federation of American Hospitals is not a fan of this part of Trump’s budget proposal.
How much did the government spend on Social Security?
It also called for spending $26 billion less on Social Security programs, the federal retirement program, including a $10 billion cut to the Social Security Disability Insurance program, which provides benefits to disabled workers. Spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is expected to cost the federal government more than $30 trillion ...
How much will Social Security cost in 2029?
Spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is expected to cost the federal government more than $30 trillion through 2029, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Mr. Trump’s willingness to consider such cuts marks a shift from four years ago, when he stood out in a field of deficit-minded Republicans in the 2016 primary race ...
How much is the federal budget deficit?
The Treasury Department said last week that the federal budget deficit surpassed $1 trillion in 2019. It was the first calendar year since 2012 that the deficit topped that threshold. To help finance deficits, which require the government to sell debt, the Treasury Department plans to begin issuing 20-year bonds.
What was the tax cut for 2017?
Following the $1.5 trillion tax cut that Republicans passed in 2017, some suggested that they would quickly turn to reduce the cost of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Those ideas gained little traction and federal spending has continued to grow.
Will Medicare be cut in 2020?
10, 2020. WASHINGTON — President Trump suggested on Wednesday that he would be willing to consider cuts to social safety-net programs like Medicare to reduce the federal deficit if he wins a second term, an apparent shift from his 2016 campaign promise to protect funding for such entitlements.
How much money is Trump moving to Medicare?
To start, Trump is moving about one-third of the money--$269 billion —into a different section of the budget. He would not reduce spending for these two programs, which fund certain hospitals and medical education, he’d just shift them out of the Medicare account to somewhere else.
How much money would Medicare save?
The administration also claims Medicare would save about $30 billion from broad changes to medical malpractice laws.
How much money would the White House save by extending the fee for service?
In another change that could directly affect patients, the budget also would expand the requirement that they get prior authorization for Medicare fee-for-service treatment, an initiative the White House says would save about $6 billion.
Is Trump's budget senior friendly?
Make no mistake, the Trump budget is hardly senior-friendly. He’d freeze or reduce spending for many federal senior service programs—continuing a trend that has gone on for more than a decade. And his proposed cuts to Medicaid could hurt family caregivers of parents or younger relatives with disabilities. But the Medicare cuts? There is much less there than meets the eye.
Who warned that Trump's executive order would endanger seniors' Social Security and Medicare?
In a joint statement, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi , a California Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, warned that Trump's executive order would "endanger seniors' Social Security and Medicare." Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton echoed those concerns in a Sunday interview with MSNBC's AM Joy.
What did Pelosi and Schumer say about Trump's executive order?
In a joint statement, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, warned that Trump's executive order would "endanger seniors' Social Security and Medicare.".
What did Democrats worry about the President's order?
Democrats quickly raised concerns that the president's order would defund programs millions of Americans rely on to survive.
Does Trump have the power to rewrite the payroll tax law?
"President Trump does not have the power to unilaterally rewrite the payroll tax law. Under the Constitution, that power belongs to the American people acting through their members of Congress," Sasse said.
Did Trump go after Medicare?
Trump "signaled that he's going after Social Security and Medicare. Basically, he was talking about ending the financial contributions we all make into Social Security and Medicare through the payroll tax," Clinton said.
Do Democrats support Medicare expansion?
To the contrary, many Democrats currently support expanding Social Security and Medicare. Addressing the concerns on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Trump's economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the president was not trying to defund the programs. "He will protect Social Security and Medicare, as he has pledged to do many, ...
Did Newsweek reach out to the White House?
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
When will Social Security be depleted?
Assuming no changes are made or new policies are enacted, the Social Security Trust Fund will be depleted by 2035, according to the most recent Trustees Report. If that were allowed to happen, beneficiaries would still receive about three-quarters of their regular monthly checks, thanks to funding from the payroll tax.
What is the Biden campaign's claim about Social Security?
The Biden camp justifies its claims about President Trump’s “proposed cuts” to Social Security by pointing to the Trump administration’s recent efforts to implement a payroll tax holiday as part of the ongoing efforts to blunt the economic impact of Covid-19.
Will Social Security run dry in 2023?
At the end of August, the chief actuary at the Social Security Administration penned a letter saying that removing payroll taxes would cause funding for Social Security to run dry by the middle of 2023. While Trump has talked fast and loose about nixing the payroll tax, he has also said he’d support replacing that revenue with money from ...
Does payroll tax help Social Security?
Payroll taxes help fund Social Security, but they are not synonymous with the program. In August, the CARES Act’s supplemental $600 weekly unemployment benefit ran out. Negotiations for a second stimulus package among the White House, the House Democrats and the Senate Republicans were going nowhere fast.
Did the 600 unemployment run out?
In August, the CARES Act’s supplemental $600 week ly unemployment benefit ran out. Negotiations for a second stimulus package among the White House, the House Democrats and the Senate Republicans were going nowhere fast. In response to the deadlock in Congress, President Trump enacted a payroll tax holiday by executive order.
Is Social Security complicated?
Unlike other big policy issues, Social Security isn’t terribly complicated to solve , Munnell told Forbes Advisor. You either need to increase revenue to keep benefits constant, or cut retirees’s benefits—neither solution would be politically popular. Politicians on both sides of the aisle need to take the issue seriously and get the buy-in needed to make necessary changes.
Did Trump leave Social Security alone?
In 2016, the president distinguished himself from other Republicans by promising to leave Social Security alone. Over the past four years, he’s pretty much done just that.
