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House Republicans unveiled a plan this week that calls for raising the Social Security retirement age. Meanwhile, Democrats and advocates for the program are ramping up their calls to tax the rich to enhance benefits.
“On the right, there is a line in the sand against tax increases,” said Emerson Sprick, associate director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
“And on the left, there’s this idea that we’re going to address this problem and not touch benefits,” he said.
Both Social Security and Medicare face looming insolvency dates, while the number of seniors who rely on those programs is projected to grow.
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The trust funds that Social Security relies on to pay benefits may run out in the next decade. For retirees, that may amount to a 23% benefit cut. For the average dual-income couple, that would result in a $17,400 benefit cut, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated.
Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund, which covers Medicare Part A, may face insolvency in 2031.
Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office is now projecting public debt will grow to 166% of gross domestic product by 2054, up from about 97% as of fiscal year 2023.
This week, the Republican Study Committee, a large group of conservative House Republicans, released a 2025 budget proposal including significant reforms for Social Security and Medicare.
President Joe Biden, in his own recent budget proposal, also outlined broad changes he hopes can be made to those programs.
Changes that are enacted to Social Security and Medicare will have to be bipartisan.
“Any kind of durable policy with a realistic chance of getting through Congress is going to have to include aspects from both of these budgets,” Sprick said.
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