Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Good News from an Impressive Work

The good news [bold added]:
Medicare will be able to continue paying full hospital benefits for its elderly or disabled clients without any changes in the law through 2030.
The not-so-good news for those who collect disability payments:
the Social Security disability-insurance program....will be able to pay only 81% of benefits starting in late 2016 unless Congress intervenes. Roughly 11 million Americans collected a total of $140 billion in Social Security disability benefits last year.
The first selfish question that arises in the mind of every reader, including your humble observer, is: how old will I be when the money runs out for the programs that affect me? The reaction may be relief or despair, but either way, through the mechanism of government or the ties of family, our children will be taking care of us.

By the way, the 2014 Social Security trustees' report is an impressive work. One can quarrel with its assumptions and calculations, but the report incorporates all the factors (mortality rate, immigration, economic growth, fertility rate, etc.) that should be considered in this complex analysis.

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