Is Social Security On Life Support?
Where is the organized response to recent reports that THE year is 2032
Boomers and newly eligible residents in the AARP demographic are being warned of an impending challenge, or, depending on your personality, crisis. Reports in the recent weeks from Social Security have warned that the fund’s ability to pay benefits to elders at the current rates will be depleted by 2032. That is, if my math is right, six years from now. A wide variety of new outlets, from the Wall Street Journal to the New York Times and Washington Post and the Economist, all carried detailed stories outlining this reality, a reality that seems to have flown under the radar in many cases. The reports indicated that the fund would not be totally depleted but that money would continue to be paid out “but at a lower threshold than current benefits”. A recipient would get less money and that Social Security “would need to cut monthly Social Security benefits by 22 percent beginning in 2032”.
Contributing to this reality have been the dynamic demographic shifts we have witnessed. There are lower birth rates in the USA and thus fewer workers coming to the work force and we are living longer. Estimated see that at the current time the “ratio of workers to recipients is less than three to one”. As many of us know from our children and grandchildren, there are fewer people working the way so many of us worked. The “gig” economy has contributed, say many, to less money being sent to fund the program. All of this is emerging just as the last cohort of Boomers is turning sixty-five and this marching to fully seek their Social Security benefits and register for Medicare. To add to the concerns, the government also recently released a report on Medicare’s solvency. “It projected that the hospital trust fund—typically referred to as Part A—will have enough revenue to pay all of its bills only until 2033 after which it would need to reduce benefits.” All of this as we are seeing a disconcerting rise in health care costs. One recent study noted that “hospital prices are the leading driver of the 320 percent increase in insurance premiums”. These hospital prices “have grown three times as fast as inflation and twice as fast as prescription drugs and doctor visits.”
We can then ask, what is being done about these realities? After all, this is not just something for elders, but, as so many of us know, this is a family systems issue. Many of us will rely on our adult children to help defer costs of healthcare and perhaps, daily living expenses given the rapid rise of things and this projected drop in benefits. This MUST be a priority for us as we contemplate where to place our political trust and our votes. These issues are all personal. There is a Jewish approach to these issues, and I urge all of us to look at them as we face voting decisions. Simply put, and this seems to be true across the denomination lines, it is society’s responsibility to provide for basic needs that people may lack. It is the government’s responsibility to provide a basic “floor” so that no one is in need. The scholars who wrote on this never focused on one plan, rather, they understood that different cultures and systems may emerge with plans that spoke to their own context. But we must provide for those who cannot provide for themselves. The sad truth is that in all the articles that were written in response to the governmental report, all agreed that given the current political climate there was little chance that any bi-partisan progress would be made. The current realities of inflation, paying for wars, and governmental spending on ballrooms and arches coupled with legislative inertia; all make progress in this very human and personal concern very challenging. How many families will have the ability to make up these shortfalls in benefits and care? Is anyone listening? Does anyone really care?
Shalom,
Rabbi Richard F Address