Issue Position: Seniors, Protecting Social Security & Medicare

Issue Position

Doggett: Removed Seniors' Social Security Numbers from Medicare Cards to Prevent Identity Theft

April 2015 marked the long-overdue passage of my "Medicare Identity Theft Prevention" Act. At the time the President signed this legislation into law, about forty-four million Americans were carrying in their wallets and purses something that made them more vulnerable to identity theft: their Medicare card. Apart from the Social Security card itself, the Medicare card has been the most frequently issued government document containing a person's Social Security number. Since 2008, as part of a bipartisan effort, I have called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to take steps that private companies and the government agencies have already taken to protect the identities of seniors by removing the display of Social Security numbers on Medicare cards. I will continue to stay engaged as CMS implements this new protection for seniors and people with disabilities to ensure that the numbers are removed as quickly as possible.

Congressman Doggett's AARP-Endorsed NOTICE Act to Help Medicare Patients

In March 2015, my bill known as the NOTICE Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously and is now has bipartisan support in the Senate. The NOTICE Act requires hospitals to provide meaningful written and oral notification to patients who are in the hospital "under observation" for more than 24 hours. Providing this notice can make a difference in out-of-pocket costs to a Medicare patient of thousands of dollars.

Currently, a hospital may either admit a patient as an "inpatient" or keep the patient "under observation." While the distinction is often impossible to determine, particularly by the beneficiary, the economic implications can be extreme if the patient later requires care in a skilled nursing facility. Medicare would pay for skilled nursing care for a beneficiary who is in the hospital for more than three days as an "inpatient," but does not pay if the beneficiary was in the hospital for the same length of time "under observation." Hospitals may act in the best interest of a patient's health but not always in the best interest of a patient's wallet. The NOTICE Act would alert the beneficiary or person acting on her behalf of her admission status and the financial implications of that classification on eligibility and cost-sharing so she can advocate on her own behalf while in the hospital

Congressman Doggett Works to Protect Social Security

I have consistently fought against misguided and risky privatization schemes that would divert substantial payroll taxes to Wall Street management fees and replace the safety net of Social Security with the insecurity of the market. Recent events demonstrate that we cannot subject retirees' security to such a roller coaster ride. Social Security isn't a Ponzi scheme or a handout. It is one of our most successful initiatives, providing security for tens of millions of seniors. In seven decades, Social Security has never been a day late or a dollar short. It has never contributed a dime to the deficit and has generated a $2.6 trillion surplus. With modest improvements to ensure its long-term solvency, Social Security will be there for our grandchildren.

Protecting the Promise of Medicare
In 1965, when our own President Lyndon Johnson succeeded in passing Medicare, most of those over 65 had no health insurance. Today, our seniors are getting the care and peace of mind they earned by paying into Medicare for their entire working lives. Now, we are flooded every day by those who want to solve our nations' debt problems by taking from those who need the most -- by cutting Medicare funding, increasing costs for seniors, or even turning management of Medicare over to private insurance companies. Especially in these tough economic times, we should not be endangering vital safety-net programs that millions of Americans paid into and depend on. For my work on Medicare, I have been awarded the AARP's National Legislative Achievement Award.

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