04/24/2019
From NOSSCR today. For those that are concerned with Mr. Trump's assessment of the program...please read below.
April 24, 2019
TRUSTEES REPORT PROJECTS SSDI SOLVENCY THROUGH 2052
The Social Security and Medicare Trustees released “ The 2019 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds," on Monday. The most important take-away from the 2019 Social Security Trustees Report is that our Social Security system continues to work well for the American people. The 2019 Trustees Report finds our Social Security system in solid financial health, with reserves of nearly $3 trillion at the end of 2018. The Trustees project that our Social Security system can continue to pay all scheduled old age, survivors, and disability benefits until 2035, one year later than was projected last year. Thereafter, the combined Social Security Trust Funds will be able to pay roughly 80 percent of scheduled benefits. With modest increases in revenue, Social Security would be able to pay full benefits throughout the century and beyond.
The Trustees adjusted their assumptions about the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund to reflect the recent decline in applications and disability incidence resulting in a projection that the SSDI Trust Fund will be solvent until 2052. This is 20 years later than last year’s projected exhaustion date of 2032. After 2052, the SSDI Trust Fund will be able to pay roughly 91 percent of scheduled benefits. The Trustee’s projections shows that the 2015 reallocation, which shifted some F**A tax revenue from the retirement trust fund to the disability trust fund, achieved its purpose – to ensure that the Social Security system paid all its promised benefits to eligible beneficiaries.
Social Security does face a long-term funding shortfall that Congress will need to address but the system is solid and not in crisis. The sooner Congress takes steps to address that shortfall the better because revenue increases can be phased in gradually. NOSSCR supports approaches to long-term solvency that are achieved through revenue increases with no benefit cuts, such as the approach contained in the Social Security 2100 Act. NOSSCR also joins with its partners in the disability community to endorse the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Social Security Task Force’s principles to evaluate Social Security solvency proposals.
The April Forum will contain a more detailed story about the 2019 Trustees’ report. For more information about the Trustees’ report, you can also tune in for this event: Stephen Goss, Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration, will discuss the report and take questions during a live chat on SSA’s page on April 30, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. EDT.
