Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds Will Be Depleted Within the Next Decade
Today, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees released their annual reports on the programs’ financing, showing that the future of these vital programs remains at risk. The Social Security Trustees note that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund is expected to become depleted in 2032, one year earlier than projected in the last two reports and the same as the Congressional Budget Office projected earlier this year. Upon depletion of the OASI Trust Fund in just six years, millions of older Americans would face an automatic cut of 22 percent to their Social Security retirement benefits.
The Medicare Trustees project that the Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund, which finances Medicare Part A, will become depleted in 2033, the same year noted in last year’s report. Upon depletion of the HI Trust Fund, payments to medical providers would be reduced by 11 percent. The reports make clear that the trust funds of these vital programs remain on an unsustainable path. The good news is that it is entirely within policymakers’ control to shore up Social Security and Medicare and preserve them for the future. Doing so will not only protect millions of beneficiaries — and especially the country’s most vulnerable citizens — but will provide stability and strength to the fiscal and economic outlook.
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Further Reading
Social Security Will Be Depleted By 2032, and Other Takeaways From the Trustees Report
Social Security’s primary trust fund is projected to be depleted by 2032, at which point, benefits for every recipient will be automatically cut by 22 percent.
How Much Government Spending Goes to Children?
Interest costs on the national debt are expected to rapidly outstrip spending on children in coming years.
Social Security Will Be Depleted in 6 Years — Here Are 3 Ideas to Fix It
Here are three options Congress could enact to close the funding gap.