Republican Leaders Offer Bigger Cuts to Senior Programs

Last week, the Obama Administration put an offer on the table to reduce the deficit and avoid across-the-board federal funding cuts under a sequester. The plan was very similar to the President’s 2103 budget proposal.

Yesterday, House Republican leaders dismissed the proposal as “not serious” and counter-offered with:

• Increasing Medicare and Medicaid cuts from $340 billion to $600 billion over 10 years.
• Adding $300 billion in new cuts to non-defense discretionary programs, such as the Older Americans Act (OAA).
• Cutting the Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).
• Reducing revenue savings (from $1.6 trillion to $800 billion), largely by refusing to let tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans (with incomes over $250,000) expire. 

NCOA opposes these cuts to senior programs as unacceptable, as they will harm millions of older Americans, particularly the most vulnerable.