NATIONAL
Social Security in ‘better shape,’ no benefit cuts are warranted
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Alliance for Retired Americans Executive Director Edward Coyle issued this joint statement Friday on the 2013 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Report:
Social Security provides a critical base of financial security and dignity for Americans in retirement or unable to work due to disability or when a working parent dies and is survived by young children. Going forward, strong economic growth broadly shared will serve to strengthen the program further. While much might be made of the projected shortfall in the disability trust fund, there is a simple step that should be taken to address any short-run concerns. As it has done eleven times before, Congress should reallocate the income across the two funds.
The good news from today’s Medicare Trustees report, extending the life of the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund by another two years to 2026, reminds us that we do not have a Medicare problem. We have a health care cost problem. Recent reforms have helped strengthen Medicare and appear to have contributed to a significant slowing of health costs overall in the short run. If we are to succeed in the long run, however, we need to continue taking steps to make health care more affordable and the health care system more cost effective, and reject proposals to cut benefits or shift costs to individuals.
More news related to the trustees’ report:
► At TPM — Medicare chief: Obamacare is extending Medicare’s life — The chief of Medicare on Friday credited Obamacare for continuing to help extend the life of Medicare after a new trustees’ report said it will be solvent for two years longer than expected.
► In the NY Times — The geezers are all right (by Paul Krugman) — The truth is that the long-term outlook for Social Security and Medicare, while not great, actually isn’t all that bad. It’s time to stop obsessing about how we’ll pay benefits to retirees in 2035 and focus instead on how we’re going to provide jobs to unemployed Americans in the here and now.