Social Security issues could impact future generations

Changes are needed now in America's Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security programs to make sure they are viable for future generations, said U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb.

Smith was in Grand Island on Wednesday, visiting with residents and health care officials at Riverside Lodge, a retirement community.

The future viability of those programs is a top priority of his, Smith said.

He said Congress must also get the nation's growing financial deficit under control at the same time it's fixing Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

But just looking at tax increases to fix the problems  is the wrong solution, Smith said.

"We have more people, in the middle class today, invested in the stock market than in the history of our country," Smith said.

That's a good sign, he said, because, over time, the stock market has done well.

"That means that the middle class is succeeding and they are investing because they see opportunity and prosperity," he said.

But Smith believes there's an attitude in Washington, D.C., that prosperity is a bad thing for the American people and their money.

"There's an automatic assumption that government ought to take more of it (money), and they already are taking a proportionally larger amount from the wealthy," he said.

The bigger question for Smith is, "What are we doing to leverage that opportunity?"

"What are we doing with our policies to encourage more people to invest in the stock market?" he said. "Raising the tax on dividends is going to end up hurting the middle class. We are now seeing more seniors who are now benefiting from the stock market dividends than we ever had in the past."

And, Smith said, seniors will spend the money more wisely than the government.

He said a modest tax policy by the government is the best vehicle for economic growth in the country.

"And that way, we can provide for those who can't provide for their health care expenses and that Medicare can have some innovation to take us forward into the future," he said.

When it comes to Social Security, Smith said, there's "pretty much" a consensus that if nothing is done about Social Security in the next 20 years, "It will be declared insolvent."

He said as the baby boomer generation is beginning to retire, they will be receiving Social Security benefits, but not paying into the system.

"That's going to lead to an imbalance," Smith said.

But Smith said rushing in with a quick-fix solution for Social Security is not the answer, either.

"We have some time to work with to help in transitioning Social Security, but the longer we put off any changes, the tougher and more painful those changes need to be," he said.

Smith said Social Security was never designed to be a fully funded retirement program, but rather a supplemental program for retirement.

He said if more people grasp that concept and invest early in life in 401(k)s and other long-term retirement investments, it would have both a positive short- and long-term effect for the nation's economy.

"We will have a better economy because people would be invested in their future and their retirement," Smith said.

 The top priority, he said, is to maintain the integrity of the Social Security Trust Fund.

"We need to have every idea on the table," Smith said. "If we begin taking various things off the table, then we are not going to have a very good policy discussion."

Earlier in the day, Smith, who participated in a Rural Health Advisory Council conference call in Grand Island, said that while all Americans deserve access to quality health care, rising costs of medical care and health insurance are making it unaffordable for many people.

"People are concerned, for good reason, about having access to health care," Smith said.

He said nearly one in 10 Nebraskans go without health insurance.

Smith said while Congress is grappling with providing health insurance in a fiscally responsible manner, lawmakers can't afford to lose sight of the need for responsible public policy that "...reduces the number of Americans who are uninsured while continuing to foster a system providing consumers with choice and competition.”