Before delving into the Social Security Trustee's annual report, here's a reality check about the program:
All of that remains true—Social Security has paid its own way for the entirety of its existence,
and it's never contributed to the deficit. Keeping that in mind, brace yourself for all kinds of doomsday punditry
over this:
WASHINGTON (AP) — High energy prices and an economy that has been slow to rebound are worsening Social Security's finances, shortening the life of the trust funds that support program by three years, the government said Monday.
Those trust funds will now run dry in 2033, according to a report issued by the trustees that oversee the massive retirement and disability program.
Medicare's hospital insurance fund is projected to run out of money in 2024, which is unchanged from last year. The trustees, however, said Medicare spending continues to rise.
For the
record, in the 1994 and 1997 reports, the trustees estimated Social Security would be depleted by 2029. These dates always fluctuate, depending on the economy, unemployment levels, and myriad other factors: wage growth, productivity, immigration rates, fertility rates ... Also, in the past year, Social Security's total income
exceeded its expenses by over $57 billion.
Additionally, don't forget the early Monday news that the Affordable Care Act is saving Medicare money, and quite a bit of it. And while Medicare spending continues to rise, the rate of growth in spending for the program has significantly slowed.
This report is going to be spun wildly by the Right, as it always is, and by Third Way types who won't be considered Serious by the Very Serious People unless they join the old people-bashing crowd. But there's no need for panic, no need for raising the retirement age, no need for vouchers, and no need for means testing to save these programs. While working out solutions to secure even longer term viability for the programs would be better done sooner than later, particularly with Medicare, it's not a crisis that calls for striking a lame duck Grand Bargain that hurts seniors (we're looking at you Rep. Steny Hoyer and Sen. Kent Conrad).