Social Security benefits could be shrinking as soon as 2035, according to actuaries for Social Security and Medicare.
More than 70 million people in the United States rely on Social Security benefits, but with a decreasing number of people buying into it combined with an aging population, the program could see cuts. The actuaries for Social Security and Medicare warned that if Congress does not fund the growing gap, the value of the checks could decline.
Future beneficiaries of Social Security checks could receive $325 less per month 11 years from now in 2035. Medicare is expected to run dry by 2036 unless addressed by Congress.
If the funds for Social Security do, in fact, run short, Social Security can only pay out through incoming payroll taxes, which means the benefits would automatically be slashed.
Paul Spitalnic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’s top actuary, noted that if Congress makes reforms sooner rather than later, the cuts would be “less significant.”
“The sooner these problems are discussed and ultimately addressed, the less significant those changes will need to be — so the earlier, certainly the better,” Spitalnic said.
Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund is also expected to run dry by 2033, which is when 79% of scheduled benefits would be payable, according to Fox Business.
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At the hearing, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) said that Democrats and Republicans must address the impending problem in a bipartisan manner.
“My prayer is we unite, not as Republicans, not as Democrats, but as Americans,” Arrington said. “I won’t get everything I want to solve it, probably. They probably won’t get everything they want. But we must do it, or there will be an automatic cut.”
