Social Security News feed http://www.cbpp.org/topic/?fa=topic&id=38 en-us Copyright 2008 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. All rights reserved. Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:00:02 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Jim Horney Discusses Cost-of-Living Increase for Social Security on National Public Radio Duration: 3:45 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/i0YEl6OFTHU/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2961 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:38:03 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2961 Administration officials have been downplaying the significance of the $2 trillion in transition costs required by some individual accounts plans, by comparing that cost to the unfunded liability in Social Security over an infinite time horizon, which totals more than $10 trillion. For example, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan responded recently to a question about how the White House would pay for the $2 trillion transition cost by arguing “It's a savings, because … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/tFFA_92HGkM/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1453 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:43:36 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1453 Under current law, there will be no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in Social Security in 2010 — the first time that has happened since automatic cost-of-living adjustments began in 1975. Several bills before Congress would grant a special increase in Social Security payments for 2010. The inflation data, however, do not support an increase: overall consumer prices have fallen significantly in the past year and are not expected to return to their earlier peak until … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/vbKZVxbzSGI/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2951 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:53:19 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2951 Today’s report shows why it is so important for Congress to stand up to the health insurance companies and eliminate the large overpayments Medicare is making to private health insurance companies. Those overpayments, which the insurance companies have launched a multi-million-dollar lobbying campaign to protect, are worsening Medicare’s long-term financing problems and accelerating the program’s date of insolvency. MedPAC, Congress’s official advisor … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/s1g8sRCDY_I/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=208 Mon, 23 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=208 The new Trustees’ report shows that action will need to be taken to shore up Social Security’s and Medicare’s finances. In evaluating the new report, several points should be kept in mind. The most serious financing problems are in Medicare. They primarily stem not from the nature of the Medicare program itself, but rather from the continuing sharp rise in health care costs throughout the U.S. health care system, in the public and private sectors alike.… http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/ITVkUk9Ce-Q/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=207 Mon, 23 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=207 The Social Security trustees’ report issued this week estimates that Social Security faces a total shortfall over the next 75 years of 0.56 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is slightly less than the estimated cost over that same period of extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts just for the top 1 percent of households: 0.6 percent of GDP.[i] (Currently, households in the top 1 percent make more than $450,000 per year.) This striking fact should serve as a … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/o3XBPjxAfqs/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=110 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=110 The Social Security and Medicare Trustees' report on Medicare underscores the urgency of health care reforms to slow health care cost growth, starting with President Obama’s proposed Medicare reforms. The Trustees’ report shows Social Security doesn’t face an immediate crisis but does require changes, and the sooner they’re made, the better. In this podcast, Bob Greenstein discusses the annual reports and their implications. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/28mV_u5Wggg/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2814 Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2814 On May 12, the Social Security Board of Trustees issued the 69th annual report on the program's financial and actuarial status.[1] The trustees' report shows some deterioration in the program's long-run outlook, a finding that was widely expected. Nevertheless, the report does not depict a program in crisis. Policymakers should act sooner rather than later to put the program on a sound long-run footing, but today's … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/lLHbnswRaN8/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2819 Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2819 The Social Security and Medicare Trustees' report on Medicare underscores the urgency of health care reforms to slow health care cost growth, starting with President Obama’s proposed Medicare reforms. The Trustees’ report shows Social Security doesn’t face an immediate crisis but does require changes, and the sooner they’re made, the better. Paul Van de Water, one of Washington’s leading experts on social insurance programs and Senior Fellow at the … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/28mV_u5Wggg/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2814 Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2814 The trustees’ report on Social Security shows that the program does not face an immediate crisis and isn’t at risk of collapsing and lacking funds to pay any benefits, even in the long run, but that Congress needs to restore Social Security’s long-term solvency so it can meet its promises — and the sooner it does so, the better. The report shows that Social Security will be able to pay full benefits until 2037, at which point the program’s trust fund will be … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/K7wCBiLN9fQ/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2813 Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2813 Executive Summary In a recent paper, “Taking Back Our Fiscal Future,” a group of policy analysts from several Washington think tanks proposed a radical change in budget procedures related to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid as a way to address budget deficits projected for future decades. They urged Congress to establish 30-year budgets, or caps, for these programs. The White House would conduct a … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/2s_fjiciBxs/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1298 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1298 The annual reports of the Social Security and Medicare trustees project the financial status of these two programs for the next 75 years. The new reports confirm that policymakers will need to take action to keep Social Security and Medicare on a sound financial footing. In evaluating the new reports, the reader should keep several points in mind. The projections in this year’s trustees reports are similar to those of last year. The projected dates of exhaustion of the combined Social … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/0ELzlQ3TzQQ/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=85 Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=85 Today's reports demonstrate again that policymakers will need to take action to shore up Social Security and Medicare finances, with the challenge being more modest in Social Security and more daunting in Medicare.  Social Security The reports show that Social Security will be able to pay full benefits until 2041 and to pay 75 percent-78 percent of benefits after 2041, the year in which the program's trust funds will be exhausted.  This year's estimates show some improvement over last year's; … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/VUdu4BqiINc/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=86 Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=86 The Social Security Administration (SSA) is proposing to change how it evaluates age as a factor in establishing eligibility for disability benefits. Under the change, SSA would raise by two years the ages at which key rules used to determine eligibility for Social Security disability insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are applied.[1] SSA estimates that the proposal would eliminate benefits for some workers aged 45 and above with certain kinds of disabilities (as well … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/Q-83K3yploM/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=191 Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=191 In recent weeks, several analysts, journalists, and legislators have sounded an alarm about the effect of the current recession on Social Security's near-term prospects, which has fostered an impression that the program may face serious problems in the next few years. Fortunately, this is not the case. The recession has affected the system's finances, and the next report of the Social Security Trustees — due in coming weeks … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/ZCCWwYUfVIs/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2793 Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2793 In recent weeks, several analysts, journalists, and legislators have sounded an alarm about the effect of the current recession on Social Security's near-term prospects, which has fostered an impression that the program may face serious problems in the next few years. Fortunately, this is not the case. The recession has affected the system's finances, and the next report of the Social Security Trustees — due in coming weeks … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/ZCCWwYUfVIs/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2793 Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2793 Summary President Bush and other Administration officials often claim that delaying action on Social Security by “...just one year adds $600 billion [or $700 billion] to the cost of fixing Social Security.”[1]  Such claims may be repeated on May 1 when the Social Security Trustees release their annual report on the program's finances.  Such claims, however, are not accurate.  The figures used in support of these claims are greatly exaggerated; they merely reflect inflation — i.e., the fact … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/1iWkAFlFwxw/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=231 Fri, 28 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=231 On May 1, the Social Security Board of Trustees released the 66th annual report on the program’s financial and actuarial status. The report projects that Social Security’s trust fund reserves will be exhausted in 2040, one year earlier than last year’s projection. After that year, Social Security will be able to pay 74 percent of scheduled benefits, rather than full benefits. (On June 14, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued its new projection showing … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/Fu4_c0YV27M/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=268 Mon, 01 May 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=268 Today’s report is another reminder of the serious long-term fiscal challenges the nation faces. Overall federal budget deficits will swell as the baby boom generation retires, medical costs continue their rapid ascent, and the growth of the U.S. workforce slows as a result of the aging of the population. The single largest source of long-term deficit growth is the projected rise in Medicare costs. This large rise is projected, however, not because of overly generous … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/LNXPSjQNKXo/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=269 Mon, 01 May 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=269 As is well known, the United States will face grave budget challenges in coming decades. In a new set of federal budget projections through 2050, we find that if current policies remain unchanged, federal expenditures will increase substantially as a share of the economy and revenues will fall short of covering expenditures by increasing amounts, leading to exploding deficits and debt.[1] Long-term budget projections by other institutions and analysts reach the same conclusion.… http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/EkO6HYZ1rbU/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2479 Mon, 29 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2479 Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas has suggested that new tax cuts to promote retirement savings should be considered as part of the effort to reform Social Security. Chairman Thomas has expressed interest in a range of proposals.[1] A number of retirement-related tax proposals have strong proponents on Capitol Hill, in the financial securities industry, and among other interest groups. Among the proposals being pushed are measures to raise the amount that workers can … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/bVOaZ1NFfys/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=290 Wed, 18 May 2005 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=290 In Kentucky on June 2, the President stepped up his efforts to promote his Social Security plan with a claim that private accounts provide a substantially higher return than traditional Social Security without any added risk. The President said: “Right now, when we collect your money, if you’re a youngster out there working hard and paying into the system, you’ll be displeased to know you get about a 1.8 percent return on your money, which is pitiful, rate of … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/3xTXuY-CLpY/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=458 Mon, 06 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=458 On July 15, Rep. Jim McCrery and a number of other Republican House members introduced legislation to establish private accounts in Social Security. The legislation embodies the plan that Rep. McCrery, Rep. Clay Shaw, and other members unveiled several weeks ago and is very similar to the plan that Senator Jim DeMint announced on June 23. Under the DeMint and McCrery plans, Social Security’s current annual surpluses would be shifted to private accounts rather than used to … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/u8nR2R46CFg/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=416 Wed, 22 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=416 Under this DeMint plan, Social Security’s current annual surpluses would be shifted to private accounts rather than used to purchase Treasury bonds for the Social Security Trust Fund. This shifting of funds would end when the Social Security surpluses disappeared. This shifting of funds would do nothing to restore solvency to Social Security. Indeed, the proposal’s purpose is not to restore solvency, but to serve as a foot in the door for more extensive private … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/j_1XmAVFxJU/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=417 Thu, 23 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=417 Supporters of the DeMint proposal argue that the Social Security surplus is currently being “raided” by the rest of the budget because the surplus is being used to help cover the deficit. The claim that Social Security is being raided and that its finances are being weakened as a result is, however, simply incorrect. The Social Security trust fund is fully compensated, in the form of Treasury bonds that are universally regarded as one of the world's safest and most secure … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-SocialSecurity/~3/q07mgJ9IIFI/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=422 Fri, 24 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=422