Social Security

As a co-chair of this year’s Academy policy research conference, I was gratified by the excellent turnout, the fascinating presentations, and the thoughtful discussions. I was most inspired, however, by three speakers, who, through their very different personal styles, issued a social- policy call to arms.

The Social Security Administration announced today that beneficiaries will see a 1.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) beginning in their January 2014 checks. Benefits are automatically adjusted to keep up with the cost of living.

Key points:

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:

“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 25^thannual 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.

Today marks the release of new data from the Census Bureau on Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011. Some key points from the report are: