Newsflash–National Social Security Month is Back, While Concerns Continue - Newsweek; AMAC
Amid intense criticism relating to the DOGE-driven changes to the Social Security Administration’s operating environment, the Trump Administration has announced the reinstatement of the month of April as National Social Security Month. In a post today on newsweek.com, reporter Aliss Higham described the move as “an annual public awareness campaign dedicated to helping Americans access their benefits.” In conjunction with the reinstatement, her article reported that the “SSA also announced a period of heightened public outreach that will extend through to August 14, in celebration of Social Security’s 90th anniversary.”
But, Rough Waters Also in the News
The Newsweek post also makes note of comments from former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley warning of the potential for delays in benefit distribution resulting from the sweeping changes being made within the agency. A separate Newsweek post, by reporter Suzanne Blake, examines the O’Malley concerns in greater detail, along with related commentary–pro and con–from other industry sources. Much of the rhetoric surrounding the debate on SSA changes relates to the search for reductions in the agency’s administrative overhead, which, for the record, amounts to roughly half a percent of total program expenditures.
Looking further down the road
Amid the current flurry of attention surrounding Social Security, it is essential to remember that the long-term financial problems facing our Social Security system are becoming increasingly real as time progresses. We’re in a less-than-decade window of when action must be taken—either corrective action or default action in the form of benefit cuts. Despite the gravity of the issues, the positions expressed in Congress, for the most part, have indicated a lack of appetite for structural change. What needs to happen—and happen soon—is a thoughtful discussion on how best to achieve the original objectives set almost 90 years ago for Social Security, namely relieving financial hardship for the elderly who are most vulnerable.
As most who study Social Security’s financial picture are aware, the rapidly approaching inflection point may provide an opportunity to rethink much of the program’s structure. Similar to many consulting organizations, the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) has been heavily involved in developing a solution that would preserve and modernize Social Security for future generations. This effort by AMAC and its subsidiaries, AMAC Action and AMAC Foundation, has resulted in AMAC’s Social Security Guarantee (SSG), a slate of adjustments across a range of target areas with an intent to preserve the program for current beneficiaries and to align it with 21st Century demographics and economics.