further this recommendation, it is recommended that OASDI benefits be increased in accord with increases in costs of living. Eligibility Age for Women 14. That the Congress amend the Social Security Act to make women eligible for Old-Age Assistance at the age of 62. Minority Statement on Citizenship Requirements for Public Assistance The restrictions against aliens, noncitizens, who are not now eligible for public assistance in certain States, should be removed by Federal law. We bring aliens into many States to work. They have traditionally made, and continue to make great contributions to the American economy. It is inconsistent with American public, democratic social policy to exclude these people from public assistance benefits. Financing of Health Care for the Aged 1. It is agreed that adequate health services should be available to all aged persons irrespective of ability to pay. 2. It is further agreed that the problem of financing an adequate level of high quality health care for the aged is so large and so complex that it will require for solution the utilization of voluntary health insurance, of individual and family effort and resources, and the resources and instrumentalities of local, State, and Federal Govern ments. 3. It is the recommendation of the majority that to assure adequate health care for the aged with certainty and dignity, there should be established a basic program for financing health care for the aged within the framework of the Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance system. 4. A minority oppose the use of the OASDI method. 5. Both those who place major reliance on the Social Security mechanism and the others agree that a. The medical assistance for the aged program adopted by the 86th Congress should be promptly implemented by the States. b. Voluntary prepayment methods should be used to their full potential. c. In all programs, the individual's freedom, dignity and selfrespect should be protected. d. Individual responsibility, self-reliance and thrift in preparing for later years should be encouraged. (The vote of the Section was 170 ayes and 99 nays.) Private Retirement Income 1. Vesting is the right of an employee to deferred retirement benefits from his employer's contributions, as well as his own, even though his employment under coverage of a pension plna terminates before retirement. Vesting gives the employee greater security and permits the useful mobility of labor. We recognize that if vesting is made compulsory through enactment of legislation, the growth and development of pensions for more and more employees may be retarded. We therefore recommend that the inclusion of vesting provisions in pension plans should be strongly encouraged as a voluntary action. 2. The Social Security Administration should study the feasibility of noting on a worker's account record taht he has a vested pension right based on previous employment, so that upon retirement he may be reminded of all his accrued pension rights. This suggestion is for voluntary reporting by private pension plans and would not involve financing or supervision. 3. Private pension plans should be encouraged by appropriate policies which recognize that such saving for old age is in the public interest. 4. To encourage pension programs, the income should be taxed when received as a pension, not when the monies are set aside. 5. The Congress should be requested to provide by legislation the same tax determinant for self-employed persons, with respect to earned personal income set aside for personal pensions, now provided for employees who are participants in tax-qualified pension and retirement plans. 6. The income allowed as a tax credit for Federal income purposes on retirement income-now $1,200-should be increased. 7. For aged persons whose medical expenses are large in relation to their income, Federal and State income tax laws should allow a carryover to succeeding tax years of a deduction of that portion of medical expenses of the limit allowable for the year in which they are incurred. Measuring Resources and Income Needs More statistical information is needed for assessing the income position and resources of the aged population. To carry out these objectives, we recommend the following: 1. That budgets and indices for elderly people be developed. Cooperation and coordination among Federal, State, and local agencies is essential. The appropriate Federal Government agency should have the responsibility for organizing and carrying out the studies, data collections and preparation of the budgets and indices. In the event that State or local bodies fail to cooperate in initiating or carrying out their responsibilities, the Federal Government must. Appropriations to finance this work are recommended. 2. That an advisory committee be established to assist Government agencies in the development of the concepts of budgets for the elderly. 3. That a consumer price index for the elderly be established. Once established, continuing research and study should be carried out to evaluate the need for continuing and/or revising the index. 4. That special emphasis be given to making available in summary form statistics relating to income and other resources of aged persons, defined by age levels, sex, family, structure, race, and other important variables. 5. That the State and Federal Governments cooperate in making available in summary form statistical data derived from the experience of individual States on such programs as medical care and housing for the aged, and the effects of such programs on the budgets of elderly persons. 6. That implementation of the suggested programs for the development of better measures of the resources and income needs of the aged must in no way interfere with the full continuation of programs to improve the economic and social status of the elderly. 7. That a clearinghouse be established at the Federal level for the collection and dissemination of data on the aged from Federal, State, and local groups, both public and private, on an annual, continuing basis. APPENDIX A Maintaining the Income of the Aged in America 1 by CHARLES I. SCHOTTLAND Chairman, Section on Income Maintenance This Conference attests to the fact that the people of the United States recognize that the problems of our aging population are serious ones and call for clear thinking, constructive planning, and bold action if the growing number of aged in our country are to make the maximum contribution of which they are capable. The Sections of this Conference will be considering almost every aspect of aginghealth, housing, education, social services, leisure time, religion, research, and other topics. Our Section, Section 2, will explore the problem of maintaining the income of the aged. The basic factual information is available to you in our Background Paper on Income Maintenance. This information plus more recent information (about persons over 65) now available indicates that 1. Only about one in four of the aged (including nonworking wives of wage earners) receive income from employment. 2. Two out of three aged receive Old Age, Survivors, and Disability benefits. 3. Almost one out of six (15 percent) receive public assistance. In other words, three-fourths of all aged over 65 receive OASI or OAA. 4. Retirement from the labor force results in a sharp drop in men's income after age 65. 5. Three out of ten aged men and three out of four aged women have income under $1,000 per year. 6. Older persons spend almost twice as much per capita for medical care as the total population. These are the facts which we must consider as we explore various proposals related to maintaining the income of aged. Granting that as a group the aged have relatively low income, how much do they really need? One measure of need might be the recent 1 Address by the Section Chairman to the Group I Orientation Meeting, January 9, 1961. ! 1 Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate of $2,390-$3,370 for a retired couple renting a home in a large city as the cost of a "modest but adequate" standard today. Or on the premise-consistent with the spending patterns of older families that food should claim no more than one-fourth of income, it might be said, based on the Low-Cost Food plan of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that income less than $2,400-$2,500 for an elderly couple is uncomfortably low. Although opinions differ as to the standard against which to measure resources of the aged, it is generally agreed that their lowerthan-average income may be strained by higher-than-average need, particularly in the case of medical care the more so since they are less likely than those younger to have health insurance. One measure of disparity between needs and resources is the fact that close to 20 percent of public expenditures for medical services are in behalf of aged persons, although this group is less than 10 percent of the population. Private expenditures for medical care, too, are much higher per person for the aged than for those under 65. Published figures indicate that relatively little of the aged person's medical bills is covered by his insurance. Furthermore, with health insurance-as with savings and other resources-it is likely to be those with high income who have it, rather than those with low. Proposals for Improving the Income Position of the Aged With this as background, our task is to examine some of the proposals that have been made for improving the income position of older people. The Background Paper provides the detailed information about a variety of proposals that you will need for your workgroup considerations. I shall mention only a few major proposals ones that we can be sure involve the most vital issues because of the attention given them by your States in formulating recommendations for this White House Conference. The recommendations developed by the States in preparation for this Conference provide an excellent springboard for your Workgroup deliberations. In the next 2 days, we can move ahead to share our thinking, examine the recommendations of the States, and come up with conclusions and recommendations of our own-whether these be recommendations for action, for continued study, or for further exploration of alternative approaches. Benefit Levels Under OASDI.--Many of the States recommended that the benefit level under OASDI be reappraised to bring it more nearly into line with today's living costs. While such recommendations imply that present benefit levels are too low, they sidestep the basic question of what level of benefits should be provided through the governmental Social Security system. In other words, what do we |