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Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., called on Congress to act on two issues before his term ends: the looming financial problems facing Social Security and the ballooning cost of healthcare.
At Semafor’s Future of Health Forum on Tuesday, Cassidy, who is leaving the Senate at the end of the year, told Semafor’s Burgess Everett that a bipartisan effort is underway to address Social Security, but acknowledged that the window for Congress to act is narrowing.
He pointed to the 2026 Social Security Trustees Report, released in June, which found that the program’s retirement trust fund would become insolvent in 2032 — triggering automatic benefit cuts of more than 20% unless Congress acts. Cassidy said that warning, combined with rising bond yields, has attracted renewed attention in Washington to a problem he has been trying to fix for six years.
“The fact that I’ve been working on it for six years and I’ve got three months left and we’re having this conversation shows you how difficult it is,” Cassidy said. “On the other hand, the actuary report that came out a month or so ago, I think, helped sharpen people’s minds that we really have a problem.”
Cassidy said the effort has bipartisan roots, pointing to a previous agreement involving seven Republicans and seven Democrats that he said was brought to President Joe Biden. He also referenced his current efforts with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, to pass The PROMISE Act.
“Obviously, the window is closing. But the longer you wait to fix Social [Security], the worse it gets. And it doesn’t just get worse marginally,” Cassidy said. “I’m hoping against hope that we can do it. And if not, I’m looking for someone to pass it off to, and they will continue it next time.”
Earlier this year, Cassidy lost his primary to a Republican challenger backed by President Donald Trump.
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As chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Cassidy also pointed to health care affordability as another area where he hopes Congress can make progress before he leaves office.
He highlighted the bipartisan Patient Deserve Price Tags Act, which he said would give patients more information about the cost of medical services before receiving care.
“If you think about it, healthcare is one of the few things in which you don’t know how much it’s going to cost when you walk in the door. And there’s a deliberate effort to obfuscate for the consumer how much something costs,” Cassidy said. “I think it’s a pretty good stab at trying to make healthcare more affordable.”