Are Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block?

Most of the time I try in columns to take what is referred to as a “balanced view,” meaning there are reasonable arguments on both sides and the opposition needs to be considered. When it comes to Social Security and Medicare, however — two programs dear to my heart that I deal with every day as an elder law attorney — there are some boundaries that cannot be crossed. My clients’ lives, to one degree or another, depend on this and for that matter so does our society as a whole.

Therefore, regarding one statement that was repeated, a line has to be drawn. It has to do with the funding of and the future for both the Social Security system and Medicare and needs to be taken seriously. It should be noted this is not just something that nibbles around the edges as most proposals tend to do. It is a direct frontal attack.

The statement made by President Donald Trump as reported by the Associated Press (AP) was: “(a)t the end of the year, the assumption (being) that I win, I’m going to terminate the payroll tax, which is another thing that some of the great economists would like to see done… We’ll be paying into Social Security through the general fund…” (“Trump’s suggestion to eliminate payroll tax doesn’t add up.”)

Commentary, in my opinion, on this massive proposed change to funding for Social Security and Medicare has been much too mild. To understand why this is so, you need to know a bit about how these programs are funded now and what this kind of change would mean.

• Social Security and Medicare are rare programs that have a dedicated funding source.