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Social Security: Just the Facts Video
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2013 Discussion Archive
Time to Get Moving on a White House Conference on Aging
There’s a reason why the nation has convened a White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA) once a decade, and it’s this: Historically, these seminal events – which involve thousands of people feeding in ideas from communities across the country – have spurred creative consensus at a national level about how apparently intractable current challenges can be practically approached, even as strategies for making promising opportunities a reality over time are also mapped out.
Putting a Human Face on Disability Insurance
All too often, inside-the-Beltway policy debates focus on dollars and deficits rather than on the millions of real people and real lives that are affected. That’s why it was refreshing to read Michael Hiltzik’s April 2 Los Angeles Times column (“Does Congress have the heart to avert disability crisis?”), which included several stories from real people who rely on Social Security disability insurance.
One of the people quoted in that article was Kira Fisher:
Read More…We Are a Rich Country: The False Dichotomy of Caring for the Old Versus Burdening the Young
Many characterize the debate over the future of social insurance as a clash between the old and the young or the brown and the gray. Such divisions are short-sighted, however, because the debate over Social Security and Medicare is really a conversation about collective future. NASI’s 25th annual policy research conference captured the essence of the ongoing struggle for change. The opening and closing keynotes of the conference clearly captured the dilemma Americans face: we agree that it is time for action, but what action?
Read More…Immigration: A Solution for Social Security Insolvency?
“As a result of globalization, labor markets are no longer defined by our borders.” When Lisa Lynch of the Heller School of Social Policy and Management made this statement in the opening keynote of the National Academy of Social Insurance’s 25thannual policy conference, Medicare and Social Security in a Time of Budget Austerity, she was alluding to the increasing role that immigration plays both in our workforce and in our shifting policies around education, healthcare, and Social Security. I was interested to see what the distinguished speakers would say about the politically-charged role of immigration on Social Security, particularly in a time of budget austerity.
Social Security: The Choice is Ours
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After leaving the NASI’s 25thannual conference, Medicare and Social Security in a Time of Budget Austerity, I came home to many who were eager to hear of my experience – and I had a lot to share. My family members are not exactly thrilled about my newfound interest in their retirement accounts, Social Security beneficiary status, and their knowledge of the Medicare program’s structure. Despite the whirlwind that was my return home, I noticed one constant in my conversations with peers about my newly acquired knowledge of Social Security.
Affordable Health Care Made Today For Tomorrow: Integrated Primary Care
Like anyone who owns a computer, tablet or smart phone, I am frequently reminded during the budget and sequester discussions that the muscle driving our social insurance programs – our nation’s economic prosperity – is fatigued. With our budget deficit forecasted in 2013 at $845 billion, total debt more than $16.1 trillion, poverty at 15.1 percent and total health care spending near 18 percent GDP – many agree that cause for concern is warranted.
As a mental health case coordinator living and working in New York State’s poorest city-per-capita – I find these talks and statistics particularly unnerving – as one in three Americans receiving Medicare today receive treatment for a cognitive or mental impairment. On my own caseload, more than half of my clients are Medicare recipients.
Read More…Delaying Retirement: Should Average Life Expectancy Determine Retirement Age?
These days many Americans, whether political or not, are tuned into discussions about social insurance programs. Retirees and younger generations, alike, are questioning whether Social Security benefits will be ample enough to carry them through their retirement years. Despite solvency for the next two decades, a number of options are being explored to ensure Social Security benefits are available for generations to come. Potential solutions range from those that cut benefits for the long-term to those that increase federal revenues to maintain or boost retiree benefits. A consideration that regularly discussed is the full retirement age and how it relates to the average life expectancy of Americans.
Educating Americans on How to Save for Retirement
Before attending the National Academy of Social Insurance's 25th annual policy conference, Medicare and Social Security in a Time of Budget Austerity, I had very little knowledge of the details of the Social Security system. Throughout the conference, I couldn't help but think that the U.S. education system failed me by not preparing me for how to save for retirement.
Two presentations struck me at in particular:
Read More…Experts Present Options for Redesigning and Financing America’s Long-Term Care System
Social Insurance is a Critical Base for Achieving Universality and Efficiency
Hundreds of long-term care (LTC) experts gathered in Washington, D.C. today at The SCAN Foundation briefing to discuss private and public options for delivering and financing long-term care to the 12 million Americans who currently need it and the 27 million people expected to need it by 2050.
The discussion comes at a critical time. Congress recently approved the formation of a bipartisan commission on long-term care, tasked with making recommendations on meeting the nation’s needs for affordable long-term care services and support. Direct spending in the United States for long-term care services was $211 billion in 2011, with Medicaid picking up more than 62 percent of the tab.
Read More…Social Security’s Cost-of-Living Adjustment: What Do Americans Want?
The purpose of Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is to automatically adjust benefits to keep up with rising prices. Experts have long disagreed about how the COLA should be calculated and the rate at which it should grow to fully protect beneficiaries against loss of purchasing power due to inflation.
Some experts say the current COLA does not keep up with the inflation that seniors face because seniors spend more on out-of-pocket health care costs, which generally rise faster than average inflation. Other experts say that the current COLA actually overstates inflation because it does not sufficiently factor in substitution between different categories of goods. A recent survey that asked Americans whether they favor or oppose 14 different policy changes finds that Americans would prefer to increase, rather than reduce, Social Security’s COLA (see table below).
Read More…Time to Help States Make Lemonade on Issue of Long-Term Care?
A version of this article originally appeared in Roll Call on February 4, 2013.
The enactment of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 averted the so-called fiscal cliff, but it also repealed the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act that was intended to create a public mechanism to help people pay for long-term services and supports if they become disabled.
The repeal was not a surprise. More than a year ago the administration abandoned plans to implement CLASS after it became clear that premiums for the program as designed — with participation to be voluntary rather than mandatory — would be too high to attract more than a tiny percentage of the population.
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