Social Security and Medicare still face financial woes

In an article published on April 10th, Herb Weiss, contributing writer on aging issues for RINewsToday, highlighted findings from the 2023 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Report and the importance of strengthening both programs. 

The annual reports on the financial health of the Social Security and Medicare programs were recently released by the Trustees, and both programs are facing significant financing issues. The Social Security program is rapidly approaching insolvency, and the Trustees’ report calls for prompt policy solutions from Congress to prevent abrupt changes to tax or benefit levels. Aging advocates are urging Congress to strengthen and expand Social Security, while Republicans are calling for cuts to future retirees’ benefits and partial privatization of the program. According to the report, if Congress does not act, Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds will become depleted in 2033 (a year earlier than last year’s forecast), and beneficiaries would only receive about 80% of their scheduled benefits by 2034.

According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), roughly 66 million people received monthly Social Security checks in 2022 (175,840 in Rhode Island). A vast majority, or about 57 million of those beneficiaries, received benefits through the OASI Trust Fund, compared to nearly 9 million people who received benefits through the DI Trust Fund.  Read more…

Read the full article at https://rinewstoday.com/trustee-reports-social-security-and-medicare-still-face-financial-woes-herb-weiss/