Are Social Security and Medicaid ‘entitlements?’ Elon Musk’s claims, explained

Elon Musk is taking a chainsaw to the United States government, destroying entire departments and slashing thousands of jobs under the guise of “eliminating waste.”

Most people don’t consider the Department of Education a waste of resources, but Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) isn’t concerned with our opinions. It seems bent on other billionaire-owned company could come sweeping in to fill the gaps so conveniently left in the wake of DOGE’s destruction, thus shifting the government out of federal control, and into the hands of business owners and CEOs.

Musk’s approach to dismantling government agencies is certainly creative, but the language he’s using to explain away his agenda is anything but. He’s leaning on well-worn falsehoods to justify the targeted destruction of institutions of public service, and those claims about Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are only the latest. Musk says the programs are unneeded and expensive “entitlements,” but he won’t find many Americans who agree.

Elon Musk’s “entitlements” claims, explained

And there it is.

Elon Musk just said he wants to cut Social Security and Medicare, calling them “entitlements”: “That’s the big one to eliminate.” pic.twitter.com/zpFpkUWGmP

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) March 10, 2025

Now that he’s finished gutting USAID and hosting a Tesla showcase on the White House lawn, Elon Musk is ramping the supervillain antics up to an 11. He’s now taking aim at a range of welfare and social insurance programs, from Medicaid and Medicare to Social Security.

For those outside of the United States, or unfamiliar with the programs, a quick breakdown: Medicaid is a health insurance program specifically tailored to low-income families, to ensure that even the poor have access to healthcare. Medicare is also a health insurance program, but one that serves specifically individuals 65 years of age or older, again to ensure that our aging population is well cared for. Social Security is a financial program that aims to provide long-term financial security to Americans, via a tax system that pays off when we retire. Essentially we pay a tax on every paycheck, across our working lives, and we’re rewarded for our efforts during retirement years, when Social Security provides us with a minor kickback to make our post-working lives survivable.

Each one of these programs is set up to ensure that some small trace of equity exists among the American population. We’ll never understand the privilege of someone like Elon Musk, but even low-income and aging Americans have — until now — been able to rely on minor governmental assistance when they need it most.

That is what Elon Musk wants to end: the fading sense of security offered by a rare few federal programs built to help the American people, and only the American people. The knowledge that our hard work is leading to a reward — and the assurance that, should the worst happen, our government has safety nets at the ready.

Musk broadly dubbed social aid programs like Social Security “entitlements” in mid-March 2025, and indicated that he aims to “eliminate” spending across the board. Numbers he provided, in defense of his impending attacks on our so-called “entitlements,” seem to be massively inflated, based on previous reports from watchdogs like Social Security’s inspector general. According to reporting that began long before Musk ed Team Trump, improper payments made up less than 1% of benefits paid out between 2015 and 2022. But if you ask Musk, Social Security is “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”

Musk is using targeted language to shift optics on Social Security, but its not working out how he intended. To the mind-bogglingly wealthy, Social Security couldn’t matter less, but to the average American — which Musk and Trump very much are not — it’s a lifeline. And while these programs are listed among America’s various entitlement programs, many state-side citizens take issue with Musk’s choice of language.

If this man takes away Social Security, he’s literally taking money out of your wallet. You’ve been paying into the program for years. Ever since you started collecting a paycheck, you’ve been paying into that program, ensuring that people decades older than you can enjoy a nice cozy retirement.

We, the young people of America, will never see the fruits of our labor if Musk kills these programs. Even though we’ve paid in, Social Security will be gone by the time we reach retirement age, and it’s not like we’ll have much saved. The economy is trash, most people can’t afford to own homes, wages are stagnant, nearly half of us are living paycheck to paycheck,and the impending Trumpcession is only making things worse. If Musk gets his way, the only nets erected to catch us, should we fall, will be burned to ash long before we take the plunge into retirement.