Report from Board of Trustees on Social Security and Medicare

On May 13, 2011, the Board of Trustees issued the annual fiscal health report on two sacrosanct federal programs--Social Security and Medicare. According to this year's report, the surplus of the Social Security trust fund will disappear in 2036, a year earlier than predicted last year. Medicare Part A, or Medicare Hospital Insurance Fund, will run out of money by 2024, five years earlier than predicted last year. The report also suggests that retirees will get only 0.7% cost of living adjustment (COLA) to their social security paycheck next year after getting none for two years. The meager increase will be all but eaten away by higher Medicare Part B premium. The Board of Trustees also reported recommendations to fix the two mandatory programs and make them solvent for the next 75 years:

* Social Security: Raise the payroll tax by 2.15% or slash the benefit by 14%.

* Medicare: Raise the payroll tax by 1% or slash the benefit by 17%.

Nearly 55 million retirees, disabled people and children who had lost parents are recipients of social security benefit, while more than 46 million people are in Medicare roll.

Source: The Dallas Morning News

On June 1, 2013, the Board of Trustees issued its outlook for both Medicare and Social Security Trust Fund. Medicare Part A, or Medicare Hospital Insurance Fund, will run out of money by 2026. The standard Medicare Premium (Medicare Part B) for the next year (2014) will remain the same, $104.90 a month. Social Security Trust Fund will run out of money by 2033. The recipients of Medicare benefit will increase from the current level of 52 million to 73 million in 2025. At present, there are more than 57 million social security beneficiaries, and an average of 10,000 baby boomers become eligible each day.

 Last year (2012), the Board of Trustees estimated that the Medicare Hospital Insurance Fund would be exhausted in 2024, and Social Security Trust Fund would be exhausted by 2033.