CNN had an interesting story last month about the future of the country’s Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program amid an upcoming budget crunch.
According to the news outlet, Congress is going to have to figure out what to do with the program in the next year or two, as its trust fund is on track to become insolvent by the end of 2016. Unless legislators react before insolvency hits, the program will only be able to pay about 80 percent of the 8.8 million disabled workers currently promised benefits.
It remains unclear when lawmakers will actually act though.
“Our best guess is that a fix will occur as close to the disability solvency deadline as congressionally possible. Think debt-ceiling negotiations,” Jim Kessler, senior vice president for policy at Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank, told CNN.
There also remains skepticism as to whether anything will be done soon because 2016 is a major election year.
CNN reported that the most dramatic thing that could happen would be lawmakers letting funds run out and cutting benefit checks, but the news outlet reported that is unlikely to happen, even as lawmakers have closed the government twice over the last two years to the sequestration.
“I might have said it was impossible, but that was before witnessing sequestration and the government shutdown,” Marc Goldwein, the senior policy director at the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said, according to CNN.
The most likely outcome experts agree on is that Congress will likely reallocate revenue from the Social Security Administration’s retirement trust funds to pay for disability benefits between now and 2025.
According to CNN, currently 12.4 percent of the first $117,000 of a worker’s wages is earmarked for Social Security benefits, half paid by the employee and half by the employer. Additionally, one in seven dollars of that tax is dedicated to the SSDI program.
How Do I Know If I am Eligible for Social Security?
We appreciate that there is an ongoing discussion about Social Security funding going on right now. Most people receiving SSDI benefits live very modestly, and any potential cuts to this income would result in financial distress.
For further information on SSDI qualifications, we suggest you visit our FAQ page.
If you have questions about applying for disability benefits, contact a Tulsa Social Security Disability attorney. We offer free evaluations of your case, and you may reach us by phone at (918) 265-1404. Contact us today to learn more about your rights.
Troutman & Troutman, P.C. – Tulsa Social Security Disability lawyers
Troutman Touts: We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you do not have to worry about paying upfront for representation.
Source: http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/17/news/economy/social-security-disability/
