Social Security Disability Fund Projected to Run Dry in 2016...

[OneTampa]

...unless the US Congress acts soon...



 

And I worked for 45 years paying into that ?@(&:+!

Links:

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/social-security-disability-fund-could-run-dry-2016-n396641

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/social-security-disability-fund-could-run-dry-2016

http://www.disabled-world.com/disability/social-security/usa/depleted.php

[DodgerDawg]

Don't buy into the the 24/7 news cycle hype.

The sky's not falling, the checks will still come, and the sun will rise each day.

DD

[OneTampa]

Don't buy into the the 24/7 news cycle hype.

The sky's not falling, the checks will still come, and the sun will rise each day.

DD

?@(&:+! better have my money! 

[Jmarksto]

I see this kind of journalism on the same level as an HIV cure being announced in the next six months -- it sells papers, clicks, and eyeballs, but isn't based in facts.  Edward R. Murrow is turning over in his grave...

[OneTampa]

Went directly to the Social Security Administration web site and entered 2016 in the search field.

Reading through several reports.

Link:

http://search.socialsecurity.gov/search?affiliate=ssa&query=2016

[Joe K]

Social Security and Medicare are entitlement programs that are funded by our payroll taxes and benefits will continue to be paid.  Congress has been raiding the SS fund for years, but since it's an entitlement, meaning we paid into the program, it is backed by the US Treasury.

All the rest is noise.  Just like the Planned Parenthood crap.  Some Americans can be so stupid.

Joe

[DodgerDawg]

Turn the TV off.

Put your feet up.

Take a chill pill.

The program will be made whole.

DD

[OneTampa]

Turn the TV off.

Put your feet up.

Take a chill pill.

The program will be made whole.

DD

Ah, the limitations of clear intent with internet postings and even emoticons. 

I definitely am not stressing about the matter. Just find it curious that several so called "reputable" news outlets are reporting the same "gloomy doomy" and wanted to go directly to the source using my "investigative reporter" instinct. 

One report tag line in the graphic above states "...balance is positive for 2016 through 2022..."  Bam! There it is! 

Peace Brother. 

[AF1]

Unless Congress acts, The SSDI Trust will "go broke" in 2016 after which payments will be reduced by approximately 20% as they will be based on incoming tax revenue only.

Regular Social Security payments will suffer the same fate in 2032 when its Trust Will "go broke" absent Congressional action.

You need only to read the Annual SSA Trustee Reports to verify this info.

[AF1]

The recent Congressional Budget deal extends the date before a reduction in SSDI benefits would be required to 2022.

[Gruff]

As an Economics teacher, I am going to be the contrary voice in this thread.  All of social security - including disability - is running into a brick wall.  It is better to be safe than sorry, and I strongly recommend saving what you can and not trusting on social security continuing as it has as we move into the next decade or two.

The problem is NOT that Congress has been raiding the fund, which is what many people assume.  The Treasury borrows from the fund, true, but it replaces the cash with an interest-bearing Treasury Bond. That means the assets are NOT diminished when the funds are borrowed - if anything, the are increased because of the interest receivable.

The problem is one of simple demographics. Regardless of how long you (or anyone) has paid into the fund, there is no 'account' or 'fund' set aside for you; it is not an IRA or 401(k) Program.

Rather, current workers pay payroll taxes to fund current retirees.  Those who are working today are paying money which immediately goes out to those receiving payments today.

When the system was designed, that was logical: there were 40 workers for every retiree, and life expectancy was 65. It's easy for 40 people to pay taxes to fund one retiree who, actuarily speaking, would not survive more than a year beyond retirement. It was also designed as 'supplemental' income, not something to base your life upon.

But we're no longer having 5 or 6 or more kids.  Even immigrants are not coming with large numbers of kids, as the Italians and Irish did two generations ago.

Today, there are TWO workers for each retiree, and life expectancy is 82 for white women. We expect seniors and the disabled to be able to live on their payments. A system built on current workers supporting current retirees can not last under that kind of demographic pressure.

There is no question that the system MUST change to remain solvent; the question is HOW will it change.

I will end as I began:  It is prudent to save what you can, as you are able, because you have no idea how these changes, when they come - and they WILL come - will affect you.  Raising the age to collect, means-testing, and making it harder to prove disability are ALL on the table.

[Jeff G]

We will eventually have a single payer healthcare system … there is no way a person can use a health care savings account effectively, its conservative code words for lets get rid of medicare and medicaid and that is not going to happen anytime soon.

[Gruff]

… there is no way a person can use a health care savings account effectively

I think that's an unfair statement.  As the President of my teacher's union, I can tell you we have fought - successfully - for the right to have an account such as this.  Not only does it reduce your federal tax burden (as all funds deposited are pre-tax income), but it permits you to 'borrow' interest-free for sudden medical expenses against your future paycheck contributions.  As an HIV-positive man, it has been quite effective, both from a cost-reduction perspective and from a cash-accessibility perspective.

Whether its 'conservative' or 'liberal' is immaterial; what's important is how we make HIV treatment accessible and affordable.  It is no accident that ALL of the others employees at my school whom I know are HIV positive (we are a tight-knit group) all participate in this.

Having said that - I should point out that I was not referring to HCSAs per se...but to the importance of saving for future uncertainties in general, using whatever mechanism makes sense for each individual.

[Jeff G]

If you are fortunate enough to have money to save then a savings account or 401k is smart.

Healthcare savings accounts will not work for people who rely solely on medicare or medicaid or for the working poor. We will eventually come around to universal healthcare when we finally accept that healthcare is not a privilege but a basic human right like most industrial countries.

Im an optimist and although things look bleak and the AFA has been a rough sale in this country I think universal healthcare is where we are heading and that is why all those tea party types are loosing their minds because they know it too.

Healthcare and income inequality are now political issues where we like it or not, conservative politicians have made it an issue when they try and take what little services and safety nets away from the ones in most need. This is what progress looks like … we will get there eventually.

[BT65]

I have been on SSDI since '94 due to complications from aids. However the past 5 or 6 years I have worked part time to supplement.  That means I regularly get fucked with by Social Security about my wages, even though I stay under SGA. I always end up contacting the government to get them off my back.  This last time I have started sending in copies of my paystubs at the end of the month so they can see I'm not going over SGA.

Speaking of SGA, some good news.  It is going up next year from $1090 to $1130.  I realize it's only $40 but that does take some pressure off to constantly have to scrutinize my earnings and hours I'm able to work. 

Betty

[AF1]

Removing the taxable income cap currently indexed at $118,500, thereby taxing ALL income equally at the 6.2% current rate would be a sufficient remedy to extend the Social Security Trusts for Decades.  Medicare doesn't have an income cap and neither should Social Security.

Allowing internationally imported (but tested) drugs and allowing Medicare and other Government Medical plans to negotiate drug prices would significantly extend the Medicare Trust Fund.

However, Republicans resist these logical provisions with hopes to allow the Trusts to get deeper into trouble and "then be forced to privatize or eliminate them" as they have tried to do since the 1960's.

[Buckmark]

Yes, the current system for funding SSDI (and indeed Social Security and Medicare) is precarious, because we are or soon will be borrowing to continue these programs.  But the checks / payments won't simply disappear one day, without some kind crisis to precipitate the event.  I envision an event like Greece's economic collapse. Maybe not quite on that scale, but close.  Everyone will know, and it will be front-page media, not some obscure story on newsman or the like.   

There will be 2 ways to deal with this:  increasing taxes to cover costs, and moving toward a single-payer healthcare system to balance costs and risks across the entire population.  Or drastically cutting benefits, with things like "vouchers" for Medicare and Medicaid, means testing, increasing retirement ages, etc.  Maybe there will be some combination of the two, but we all know each political party in the US has its favorite solutions.

Meanwhile, I'm doing my part by end my social security disability benefits.     I've returned to work and earned enough during my trial work period that social security says I am no longer disabled.  Yes, I knew this was coming, and I am grateful I have returned to work after my treatment for lymphoma.  But seeing the letter in black and white from social security saying they no longer consider me disabled makes it all real.  I still have lasting, long-term side-effects from HIV and cancer treatment, and going off of disability feels like I am taking a *very* big risk.  At least I have 5 years of expedited reinstatement.   

[Jeff G]

I agree with what Henry said. I would like to add that I do think that a voucher system and privatizing medicare will do great harm to the working poor and people with disabilities.

It took the Affordable Care Act and major legislation to get the insurance industry to insure sick people so if people think that the market place is going to be fair or a good for people with disabilities or chronic illnesses I say it will have disastrous consequences. 

People complain about how much it cost to take care of sick in the way of taxes or insurance premiums but rarely complain that the American health care system is built on the backs of the sick and dying and the record profits and high CEO bonuses are never considered as part of the problem with the delivery of healthcare . I say that the for profit model of healthcare is the core problem and until this country wraps its capitalistic minds around this fact and the immorality of it nothing can ever change .

[BT65]

Preach Jeff, say that shit!  It's so true. Privatizing Social Security and taking a gamble on the stock market would be horrific.  If that were to happen I would predict not another older person would vote Republican ever again. 

The healthcare and medication costs in this country are outrageous.  More people are bankrupting on medical bills than anything else.  How can we call ourselves a great country when people can't afford to stay healthy and put off needed procedures, getting life saving meds etc? 

And Jeff's right, this system has raped the working poor for years.  It's very easy to talk about what would "fix" or "help" fix SS, but unless you're actually lived for about a year in a working poor lifestyle or as someone who has to depend on social programs to survive, you shouldn't be callous about the situation or believe you're correct. Walk a mile in my shoes then tell me I should be trying harder so I can do my fair share.

This country, especially in recent years, is always about money, not actually helping people.  Unless there's a big profit to be made off a new program.  I see local organizations try to implement new programs for disadvantaged people simply because they want the grant money.  And that's just very disturbing.  Do I expect a complete overhaul of people's thinking where people are seen as actual living breathing creatures needing help, and not dollar signs?  No, because this is America and that's just not how it is. 

I love this country, I'm not un-patriotic, but a lot of what happens in this country makes me nauseous.

Betty

[Jeff G]

Amen sister Betty. I used own my own business and make a pretty good living but getting sick in America changed everything and it became a life time of troubles to access healthcare. Its pretty hard for me to remain civil on the subject when people try and point that since I did get treatment the system worked.

If medicare and medicaid are privatized many of the same people who thinks the system works will at some time in their life get a taste of what its like to be sick in a capitalistic healthcare system … the only difference is there will no longer be a program like medicaid as the payor of last resort to help them once every thing they own is gone and the bank account sucked dry leaving them with no retirement.

 

[AF1]

Medical costs WERE the #1 reason for personal bankruptcies prior to the ACA.  Given maximum out of pocket levels after which 100% of claims are covered/paid, the prohibition of Insurers canceling plans for arbitrary reasons, or now-prohibited plan caps, medical costs aren't even ranked as reasons for personal bankruptcy since ACA went into effect.