Fairness for all Social Security recipients
We’re fighting to restore Social Security benefits for thousands of “notch” seniors in northeast Wisconsin
by Congressman Mark Green
An injustice is happening across America. It may not be affecting you, but it is probably affecting someone not too far away.
What if you were told that the reason you receive less Social Security benefits than other retirees is simply because you were born between 1917 and the mid-1920s?
You’d probably be angry and want an explanation. You’d feel singled out. You’d be one of about 12 million seniors all across America known as “notch babies” who have fallen victim to an unintentional mistake in Social Security payment adjustments. The bureaucrats in Washington got their math wrong, and these folks are paying the price.
Who are these “notch babies?”
They are the guy who walks his dog by your house and the couple who sip coffee in the local diner each morning. Many are veterans. They are your parents. They are your grandparents.
They are nearly 3,580 of your friends and neighbors living in northeastern Wisconsin.
It all started back in the 1970s when individuals born between 1910 and 1916 reached retirement age. They began receiving Social Security benefits that were actually too high—payments the system could not continue to keep up with. If all future retirees had received these payment amounts, the Social Security fund would have quickly run out of money.
Congress knew it had to change the system, or else Social Security would be in serious jeopardy. But at the time, Congress didn’t think it was right to immediately reduce the benefits of the folks who had just reached retirement age—folks who expected to receive their benefits in full.
But through their efforts to correct the payment problem, the federal government ended up lowering Social Security benefits for retirees born between 1917 and the mid-1920s—the “notch babies.” If you look on a graph of Social Security benefits, the significant drop between these years looks like a notch, hence the term. Because of the way the new calculations were set up for these retirees, they end up with less money.
In my opinion, this just isn’t right.
Many retirees rely on Social Security benefits as their sole source of income. Each month they write checks for rent, food, heat, and health care premiums, without much left over for miscellaneous necessities.
And let’s not forget about the rising costs of prescription drugs, which most seniors pay for out of pocket. Seniors on a limited, fixed budget simply cannot afford to pay these increased drug costs, and “notch” survivors who receive even fewer benefits than the rest of the aging population are having an even tougher time affording the medicines they need to stay healthy and active.
Fighting this unfairness in Social Security payments has been an uphill battle. Last year I joined 68 of my colleagues as a cosponsor of the Notch Fairness Act that would give “notch babies” the choice to receive either an improved monthly benefit for a five-year period or four lump sum payments totaling $5000. Unfortunately, this bill ended up stuck in committee last time around.
Nevertheless, I’m going to continue my efforts to remedy this unfair situation. I again signed on as a cosponsor to the Notch Fairness Act. After all, the golden years of all of our lives should not be tarnished by the fear and frustration of being unable to pay for basic human needs. They’re simply asking for basic fairness. They’ve earned it and I’ll keep working to provide it to them.
As always, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts and opinions. If you have any questions or comments, please give my office a call toll-free at 1-800-773-8579, e-mail me directly at mark.green@mail.house.gov, or check out my Web site at http://www.house.gov/markgreen.
Thanks, and keep in touch.
December 2002
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