(Washington, D.C., March 1, 2022)—B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:
 
In his State of the Union address tonight, President Joe Biden spoke about some of our top organizational priorities.

We support Biden’s affirmation of the trans-Atlantic alliance in the face of Russia’s violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. We agree that this is a welcome and important show of solidarity. As the Russian invasion is nearly a week old—an invasion we condemned—B’nai B’rith continues to focus on the humanitarian crisis facing the people of Ukraine. B’nai B’rith International, along with B’nai B’rith Europe, B’nai B’rith UK and B’nai B’rith in Italy and Germany, is focusing our aid efforts to help meet the urgent needs of Jewish communities.

This conflict has put into sharp focus the danger of global reliance on Russian gas and oil exports. Energy independence is vital to ensure the United States and its allies do not rely on oil from countries whose interests are not aligned with our own. We must continue to work with our allies to diversify Europe's energy supply and reduce dependence on Russian energy.

Domestically, we thank the president for highlighting tonight the need to reduce prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients. In addition, we urge the White House and Congress to support legislation that provides economic relief to seniors, especially affordable housing for older adults as well as further adjustments to Medicare that would make hearing aids more affordable. B’nai B’rith was encouraged last year that the House of Representatives passed legislation that tackled these issues, however, we are disappointed the legislation has not passed the Senate. As an active advocate for low-income seniors, we believe this relief can positively impact the lives of older Americans.

Sensible gun reform measures are urgently needed to address the disturbing rise in gun violence and crime across our cities. We worry greatly about the rise in hate crimes against Jewish individuals and institutions and call for increased funding of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to protect Jewish communities and other vulnerable targets.

We commend the president for stressing the need for border security, along with reform of our immigration laws and support for the Dreamers (those who were brought to this country illegally as children). B’nai B’rith has long supported comprehensive immigration reform with a path toward citizenship.

B’nai B’rith will monitor developments in the areas discussed tonight, as well as those we wished had received attention within the speech. We will continue to meet with White House officials and members of Congress on these topics to offer our analysis and guidance.

B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org.

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International is pleased to see movement from Congress on a permanent solution for paying doctors who treat Medicare patients and ending more than a decade’s worth of “doc fixes.” Since 2003, 17 of these short term fixes have been enacted by Congress, most recently blocking 21.2 percent payment cuts to doctors of Medicare patients. A permanent fix is long overdue, and B’nai B’rith is encouraged by the bipartisan, political will to agree on this legislation.

The sustainable growth rate formula (SGR) is the system that is currently in place for determining payment rate cuts and has been a flawed payment approach from the beginning. Congress votes every year to “fix” the SGR to stop it from taking effect.

B’nai B’rith favors a permanent fix and a replacement of this formula that moves toward incentives for doctors to provide a higher quality of care.

While listening to the outpouring of ideas in resolving this issue, B’nai B’rith does have concerns we hope both chambers  of Congress will consider when reviewing the plan and before voting on a permanent fix.

One of those concerns is the absence of “extenders” in the bill. Extenders have been vital parts of all previous doc fixes, blocking other SGR-based cuts and caps on Medicare benefits, and extending the life of programs that help lower-income beneficiaries with their out of pocket costs. Extenders have a huge impact on low-income patients and it’s unclear what the fate of those programs would be in the permanent fix. If they are left out of a permanent fix, they lose their best annual chance to be addressed.  

Another issue B’nai B’rith has encountered is the inclusion of “pay-fors” in the bill that shift $30 billion in costs directly onto beneficiaries and will most likely result in higher premiums for all future beneficiaries. Instead of shifting this cost onto Medicare patients other avenues should be pursued, such as prescription drug savings which would accrue to the Medicare program if Medicare negotiated lower drug prices.

B’nai B’rith has long been adamant about Congress passing a permanent solution to the broken SGR. In December 2014 B’nai B’rith helped draft a letter from the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations advocating to Sens. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell and Reps. John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi that very position. Click here to read the letter.


Image via Flickr

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

After reviewing the Obama administration’s Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) budget, B’nai B’rith International has mixed reactions to areas affecting seniors and the low-income Americans, as well as matters of international policy—both spheres in which B’nai B’rith is extremely active.

B’nai B’rith is pleased the administration is calling for a “clean reallocation” of funds within the payroll tax, allowing the disability and retirement benefits to be on equal and secure footing until 2033 and avoiding a disability shortfall in 2016. Reallocations among parts of the Social Security program are not uncommon and have occurred 11 times in the past. 

B’nai B’rith is also satisfied to see that the administration sought to undo many of the sequester cuts in domestic discretionary programs. The administration was able to do so without gutting such mandatory programs as Social Security and Medicare that affect the elderly. Other promising ideas gleaned from the FY16 budget include allowing the U.S. Department or Health and Human Services to negotiate prices on cutting edge drugs like “biologics” for Medicare beneficiaries and reducing out of pocket prescription spending. 

We remain quite concerned, however, about provisions appearing again in this year’s budget that would shift more costs, including health costs, to older adults and the disabled. Among these worrisome cost-shifting measures are ill-conceived penalties for disability beneficiaries who also receive unemployment insurance, changes to the Medicare’s premium structure that increase costs for many beneficiaries and a proposal that would penalize people who buy certain types of supplemental Medicare coverage. 

While we continue to work toward fully restoring the Department of Housing and Urban Development program that has funded the construction of thousands of rental apartments for low-income elders, we are pleased to see the administration’s budget would continue to fund operating and service coordination expenses for existing buildings across the country. B’nai B’rith is the largest national Jewish sponsor of low-income housing for seniors in the United States. 

In the international policy realm, the administration’s $54.8 billion foreign aid budget request for FY16 is a welcome reversal of past cuts to international affairs. However, the total request level represents only a modest increase at a time when many important U.S. programs overseas are already significantly underfunded. Additionally, it is unfortunate that humanitarian assistance is down 13 percent at a time when conflicts are on the rise and victims of natural disasters desperately need help.

B’nai B’rith does welcome the administration’s call for a 29.2 percent increase in the Economic Support Fund that will bolster strategic economic assistance to address global crises and countries in conflict, including Ukraine and its neighbors; and combating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Aid to Israel, at $3.1 billion, will remain the same as in Fiscal Year 2014 and Fiscal Year 2015, continuing U.S. support for the only democracy in the Middle East.

B’nai B’rith calls on Congress to fund at least the full amount of the administration’s international affairs budget request.

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

The 114th U.S. Congress is underway and among its first acts was the adoption of a new rule that will undercut Social Security as a whole and risks steep cuts in Social Security Disability Insurance benefits (DI) by late 2016. 

During the summer, the 2014 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Report stated the DI trust fund is at risk of being depleted by 2016. The latest forecast is consistent with past reports, including expectations in the early 1980s when funding allocations between retirement and disability benefits were last adjusted. B’nai B’rith International urged Congress to increase the DI’s allocation from the payroll tax, funding which all Social Security programs share.

Reallocating funds from the payroll tax has been a measure routinely carried out 11 times over the life of the program. B’nai B’rith pushed for this reallocation to keep millions of disabled Americans, many of whom are also elderly, from experiencing benefit cuts of 20 percent in late 2016. 

The new rule would essentially prohibit a “clean reallocation” bill and require any reallocation to be accompanied by proposals likely to cut benefits somewhere in the Social Security system. Proponents of the rule insist that is needed to protect the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund from moving funds to the “broken” DI system.

The disability system is not broken, and a reallocation is not only appropriate and routine, but also will not cause appreciable harm to retiree benefits. A reallocation of funds from the payroll tax to DI would actually put the fund on equal footing with OASI and other Social Security programs, making the benefits fully funded through 2033.

B’nai B’rith calls for the retraction of this rule change, and hopes we can have an honest debate about policy and ways to improve and expand Social Security benefits in the coming months.