Brooks Family Lecture: The Comming Battes over Social Security

Michael Astrue, Former Commissioner of Social Security

A discussion of the political and policy implications of the insolvency of the disability trust fund in 2016 as a precursor to the insolvency of the retirement and survivors trust fund in 2033.

• What is about to happen to Social Security?
• How do we fix disability?
• How do we fix retirement?

Michael Astrue has split his career between public  service and the biotechnology industry. He led one of the most successful turnarounds in the history of the industry as CEO of Transkaryotic Therapies and served as Chairman of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. He also worked for thirteen years in senior positions in four Administrations. Among other positions, he served in the Reagan and Bush White Houses as Associate Counsel to the President, and as General Counsel of HHS (1989-1992), where he personally litigated the first federal HIV discrimination and patient dumping enforcement cases. As Commissioner of Social Security (2007-2013) he reported directly to Presidents Bush and Obama. He overhauled the agency’s antiquated IT systems and electronic services, reduced backlogs, created fast tracks for patients with severe rare disorders, and significantly improved the economic information provided to the public, particularly to women, as they make retirement choices. A graduate of Yale and Harvard Law School, he has received two honorary degrees and numerous awards, including the Public Health Award from the National Organization of Rare Disorders and Humanitarian of the Year from the Alzheimer’s Association.