Trustees Rating Health of Social Security, Medicare
(By – STEPHEN OHLEMACHER and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press)
The federal government’s two largest benefit programs face short- and long-term financial problems as they close in on milestone anniversaries. The magnitude of those problems will become clearer when the trustees forSocial Security and Medicare issue their annual report cards. Last year, the trustees said the trust fund that supports Social Security’s disability program would run dry in 2016. Unless Congress addresses the shortfall, it would trigger an automatic 19 percent cut in benefits right in the middle of a presidential election.The trustees will also release Wednesday a new projection for Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment at the end of the year. The adjustment is based on a government measure of inflation. Read more…