These are exciting times for the National Center for Policy Analysis . NCPA ideas are revolutionizing the healthcare system and NCPA scholars are dominating the public discussion over taxes and Social Security reform.

During his second-term, President Bush proposes to use federal policy actively to encourage Health Savings Account (HSA) plans, a concept that was developed by scholars at the NCPA. Among the President’s proposals are these reform ideas:

• Deductible deposits to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).
• Deductible premiums for HSA health plans.
• Refundable tax credits for health insurance for low-income families.
• Refundable tax credits for HSA deposits for low-income families.
• Refundable tax credits for small business contributions to HSAs.
• A national market for health insurance.

Our new book, Lives at Risk , is getting rave reviews from health economists and is considered by many to be the definitive analysis of national health insurance in developed countries. A CATO book forum gave us access to a national C-Span audience.

NCPA Senior Fellow and Public Trustee of Social Security and Medicare Thomas R. Saving produced a Social Security reform plan with his colleague Andrew Rettenmaier. We unveiled it at a Capitol Hill briefing on December 9. It is the only proposal available that is fully funded, does not require borrowed money, maintains the progressivity of the current system, and replaces today's pay-as-you-go system after one generation.

Also at the briefing, NCPA Senior Fellow and World Bank Consultant Estelle James released a study showing that large accumulations in private retirement accounts would allow the nation's fledgling annuity industry to blossom into a prosperous competitive market, based on the experience in Chile.

We continue Team NCPA, our special project of the NCPA to educate policy makers, opinion leaders and the general public about the crisis facing Social Security and the benefits of personal investment-based reform. Team NCPA believes the best way we can achieve a general consensus on the need for personal-investment based reform is with a bottom-up education effort, where neighbor speaks to neighbor, rather than a top-down mass marketing campaign based on flashy ads and “parachuting” in experts from Washington, D.C.

The two-year-old project is an all-volunteer network of concerned citizens who are dedicated to saving Social Security in a way that protects current and near retirees, and gives younger Americans the opportunity to enjoy a secure retirement. This year we have expanded Team NCPA to target 10 key states, which were selected because of their political and geographic importance to building the support necessary for Social Security reform. Each of the states was selected because it either: 1) is represented by a Senator or House Member in a position to impact Social Security reform, 2) is a political barometer of the nation as a whole, or 3) it provides geographic balance.

In each selected state, we will recruit a local Team Leader to serve as spokesperson and statewide organizer. State Team Leaders will:

• Give speeches to local groups and civic organizations, occasionally accompanied by NCPA scholars;
• Act as a Team NCPA spokesperson in outreach to local media, including talk radio and editorial writers;
• Star in a television advertisement aired in their state stressing the importance of reform and the benefits of personal retirement accounts.

In addition to recruiting a state Team Leader, Team NCPA will contract with an agency in each state to assist with scheduling speaking appearances and media interviews, developing targeted promotional material and producing and placing of television advertisements. Our targeted audiences include the general public and members of the U.S. House and Senate Social Security subcommittees for each state.

The outreach seeks to inform local communities about the need for reform and the NCPA’s unique solution. The NCPA’s Social Security reform plan invests 1% of an individual’s annual income to gain a 5% personal retirement account – available wherever you work, whenever you retire and for whatever retirement and healthcare purposes you require. The plan promotes the closing of Social Security’s funding gap and ensures a secure retirement for current retirees and future generations.

The NCPA’s three-year development plan, including a one-year reserve fund goal of $1.2 million and a three-year reserve board commitment of $5 million, has enabled us to improve the structure of the organization and also receive our first bequest in the amount of $500,000 from dedicated donors, Sandy and Ginny MacNeil.

One measure of the NCPA’s impact on policy debates this year is the frequency with which our studies, positions and policy experts are quoted in news stories, editorials and columns nationwide. NCPA ideas about public policy issues reached U.S. print, broadcast and Internet audiences more than 590 million times by November of 2004, with an equivalent advertising value of $23.6 million. Over the past year, the NCPA’s sites experienced 57 million hits and subscribers to our online newsletters surpassed 15,800.

I thank you for your support of the NCPA and your belief in our goal to educate Americans about the dire need for public policy reform.

Warm regards,

John Goodman
President

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