Our Focus

The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare Foundation – Insuring the Essentials in the Twenty-First Century

The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare Foundation (NCF) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, whose mission is to protect, promote, and ensure the financial security, health, and well being of current and future generations of Americans through research, analysis, and public education.

The NCF is based in Washington, DC and affiliated with the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare founded in 1982. The primary goal of these two organizations is to preserve and strengthen public support for landmark federal programs that serve Americans, particularly Social Security and Medicare. The NCF draws upon the substantial policy expertise and legislative experience of its President, former congresswoman Barbara B. Kennelly and its Board of Directors led by Dr. Jane Ross.

The development of social insurance policies, particularly Social Security and Medicare, stands among the most effective and most popular domestic policy achievements of our federal government through the 20th Century. Few federal programs have served so many so well. This is because, as former Social Security Commissioner, Robert M. Ball states in his book of the same title, “Insuring the Essentials is, of course, what Social Security and Medicare are all about…” (The Century Foundation Press, 2000).

Through economic crises, natural disasters and war time, Social Security and Medicare, based on the concept of shared risk and responsibility, have remained reliable constants in a changing world. Social insurance programs in the United States have transformed the quality of life for millions of Americans of all ages and origins. They showcase the best of what government can do for its citizens. At the NCF we dedicate ourselves toward a clearer public understanding of why our national community must continue to support and nurture these programs and related policies.

Current research indicates that over the past two decades, negative and misleading public discourse has distorted public understanding of Social Security and Medicare’s long-term costs and solvency. The purpose of the NCF is to inform public understanding of the value and importance of social insurance to the health and economic vitality of both individuals and society.

The NCF’s objective through 2008 is to launch public education and awareness campaigns, through research and media outreach, about the current and future value of social insurance, Social Security and Medicare.

The NCF works in partnership with grant-making foundations and other philanthropic donors who may provide financial and logistical support for research projects and public awareness initiatives in the following areas:

• Social Security Reform
• Medicare Reform

And also in the following areas as they relate to Social Security and Medicare:

• Pension Policy
• Health and Long Term Care Reform
• The Role of Social Insurance in Developed Nations
• Media and Public Attitudes