Social Security & Medicare Trustees Annual Reports

On July 22, 2015 the Social Security Trustees issued its annual report about the Social Security Trust funds. According to the press release, the good news overall is SSA gained a year in solvency. The bad news, the disability insurance trust fund reserve runs out of money next year.

The combined asset reserves of the Old-Age  and Survivors Insurance, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds are  projected to become depleted in 2034, one year later than projected last year,  with 79 percent of benefits payable at that time.  The DI Trust Fund reserve will become depleted in  2016, unchanged from last year’s estimate, with 81 percent of benefits still  payable.

In the press release, Acting Commissioner Carolyn W. Colvin addressed the DI Trust Fund issue:

While the projected depletion date of the combined OASDI trust funds gained a year, the Disability Insurance Trust Fund’s projected depletion year remains 2016. I agree with President Obama, we have to keep Social Security strong, protecting its future solvency. President Obama’s FY 2016 budget proposes to address this near-term Disability Insurance Trust Fund’s reserve depletion. By reallocating a portion of payroll taxes from Old Age Survivors to the Disability Trust Fund – as has been done many times in the past – would have no adverse effect on the solvency of the overall Social Security program….

The full report The 2015 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal      Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds is available as a pdf here.

The Medicare Trustees report was also released on July 22, 2015. The news from Medicare was slightly better, with the trust fund solvency still in place through 2030.

[T]he Medicare Trustees projected that the trust fund that finances Medicare’s hospital insurance coverage will remain solvent until 2030, unchanged from last year, but with an improved long-term outlook from last year’s report. Under this year’s projection, the trust fund will remain solvent 13 years longer than the Trustees projected in 2009, before the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

However, the press release notes an anticipated increase in Medicare Part B premiums for next year:

[A]pproximately 70 percent of beneficiaries are expected not to see a premium increase in 2016 because it is projected that there will be no cost-of-living increases in Social Security benefits. The remaining 30 percent of beneficiaries would pay a higher premium based on this projection. These include only individuals who enroll in Part B for the first time in 2016; enrollees who do not receive a Social Security benefit; beneficiaries that are directly billed for their Part B premium; and current enrollees who pay an income related higher premium. Decisions about premium changes will be made in October and depend on a variety of factors.

The full report is available as a PDF here.