|
|
Insider’s Report: Annual Status Reports on the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds
|
|
|
|
This year’s Social Security Trustees Report shows that the reserves held in the combined Social Security retirement and disability Trust Fund are projected to last until 2034, one year earlier than what was projected in last year’s report. After 2034, Social Security will have annual revenue sufficient to pay 80% of benefits, that is if Congress takes no action.
|
|
|
|
But for many beneficiaries relying on Social Security for most of their income in retirement, this report makes it clear that Congress must act to provide an overdue boost in benefits and ensure the program remains solvent for decades to come.
|
|
Of course, there are politicians in Congress who remain dead set on slashing your earned benefits, instead of improving them. And they are backing proposals that would raise the Social Security retirement age, slash the annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) and privatize Social Security for the benefit of Wall Street brokers.
|
|
These are not rational solutions to improve benefits or strengthen the program for future beneficiaries. These are proposals aimed at destroying Social Security, plain and simple.
|
|
|
|
“Contrary to conservative claims, Social Security is not ‘going bankrupt’; the program will always be able to pay benefits because of ongoing contributions from workers and employers. In fact, this is yet another Trustees report showing that Social Security remains strong in the face of turmoil in the rest of the economy. Its projected insolvency date has stayed roughly the same even after a global pandemic and recent economic upheavals.” – Max Richtman, NCPSSM President and CEO
|
|
|
|
At a time when more than half of all workers have no retirement plans at work and millions more have little or no retirement savings, benefits must be improved — not cut — to protect the growing share of seniors who depend on the program for all or most of their retirement income.
|
|
What about Medicare? The Trustees of the Medicare program report that the Reserves in Medicare’s Part A Trust Fund will become depleted in 2031, three years later than projected last year, at which time the system could still pay 89% of benefits. But this is only if Congress takes no action
|
|
The Trustees estimate that the Medicare Part B premium will be $174.80 per month in 2024 — a $10 increase.
|
|
Today, Americans are turning to Social Security and Medicare more than ever. That’s why it’s so important that we work together to strengthen these programs that have been the bedrock of America’s middle and working classes, and resist proposals by those determined to tear them down.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good Bills
|
|
The National Committee endorses the “Nursing Home Disclosure Act” (H.R. 177) that promotes transparency and accountability by directing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to require nursing facilities to report information on medical directors that would be featured on the federal government’s website and online public resource, Nursing Home Compare.
|
|
The bill anticipates that Nursing Home Compare would identify:
|
-
nursing homes that have two, three, or more physicians named as medical directors;
-
nursing homes with a single physician who is named as medical director;
-
nursing homes where the medical director changes frequently each year; and
-
nursing homes that do not have a named physician medical director
|
|
|
Ask Us!
|
|
Whether you’re retired or approaching retirement, our team of experts in the field of Social Security policy is available to answer your questions about benefits.
You can either search our archives for valuable advice on a broad range of concerns or submit your question here.
|
|
This week’s question is: I called a local Social Security office yesterday to make an appointment for my wife and me to file for benefits. We have both reached full retirement age. The agent asked me when I wanted to start benefits. I didn’t know we had a choice. What answer should I give when we go to file?
|
|
Click here to read the answer.
|
|
|
Take Our Poll!
|
|
Do you support a proposal now on the table in Congress that would raise the full retirement age to 70 as a way to help shore up Social Security’s future solvency?
|
|
Take our poll now!
|
|
|
 |
|
Ask Us
|
|
Whether you’re currently retired or approaching retirement, we can help answer your questions and provide valuable advice on Social Security.
|
|
|
 |
|
Join Now
|
|
Your support sustains our campaigns in Washington to protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare.
|
|
 |
|
Aging, Health and Care
|
|
Find useful resources on everything from caregiving and hearing care to long-term care and transportation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Cassidy-King proposal would create a “sovereign wealth fund” for Social Security of some $1.5 trillion in borrowed funds to invest in the stock market It’s easy to be fooled into “believing in the fantasy of a stock market ‘free lunch,’” observes the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
(April 3, 2023, Los Angeles Times, Michael Hiltzik)
|
|
Read More →
|
|
|
|
The Washington, DC-based National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM) and other aging advocates are urging Congress to take prompt action to strengthen and expand Social Security, while Republicans have been calling for cuts to future retirees’ benefits and at least partly privatizing the program.
(April 10, 2023, Rhode Island News, Herb Weiss)
|
|
Read More →
|
|
|
|
The Biden administration has announced a new rule that will crack down on misleading marketing schemes by the health insurance companies that offer Medicare Advantage plans, those that offer Part D prescription drug plans and their downstream entities.
(April 5, 2023, CNN, Jacqueline Howard)
|
|
Read More →
|
|
|
|
Future generations will be detrimentally impacted if the retirement age is hiked, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM) has warned. Policymakers are considering this option due to Social Security being reportedly at risk of insolvency, however, experts are highlighting that this will have a knock-on effect on people’s benefits. (April 6, 2023, Times News Network, Nora James)
|
|
Read More →
|
|
|
|
The Social Security Administration (SSA), which has been struggling to serve the public after over a decade of restricted funding, has a chance to turn things around next year — but only if appropriators provide a funding boost.
(March 30, 2023, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Kathleen Romig)
|
|
Read More →
|
|
|
|
Nearly 8 in 10 Americans said in a new poll that they would oppose the federal government raising the full retirement age for Social Security from 67 to 70.
(March 30, 2023, The Hill, Olafimihan Oshin)
|
|
Read More →
|
|
|
|
If the U.S. were to default on its debt, then the Treasury Department would have to decide what does and doesn’t get paid — and that could impact Social Security and Medicare payments, according to Dan Adcock, director of government relations and policy at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM).
(April 4, 2023, Go Banking Rates, Vance Cariaga)
|
|
Read More →
|
|
|
|
In 2023, any yearly earnings above $160,200 are not subject to Social Security taxes. Raising that threshold to $250,000 or higher would bring in more money — something lawmakers like U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) support, along with advocacy groups such as the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM). (April 5, 2023, Yahoo!, Vance Cariaga)
|
|
Read More →
|
|
|
|
|
