Social Security is on track to run out by 2034, one year earlier than previously estimated, according to a new report.
Social Security funds for retirees and survivors of deceased workers are set to run out in 2033, according to this year’s annual report by the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees. But funds for retirees and survivors could last until 2034 if Congress combines the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Fund with another fund for disability insurance.
Payments won’t stop once the funds run dry. Instead, monthly benefits will be cut by 19 percent, the trustees estimate. That means the average retired worker — who currently receives an average monthly payment of $2,002.39 — could see their payment drop down to $1,621.94.
Last year, the trustees estimated the combined funds could last until 2035. The trustees attributed the change in their estimate to the Social Security Fairness Act, a bill passed under President Joe Biden with bipartisan support. The law, which went into effect in January, boosted benefits for more than three million retirees.
More Americans are also filing for Social Security benefits this year. From January to May 2025, the program saw a 17 percent spike in enrollments compared to the same period last year, CBS News reports. As a result, an estimated four million new beneficiaries are expected to enroll by the end of 2025.
The Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is also set to run dry in 2033, three years earlier than the trustees previously projected. This fund helps cover stays in hospitals, nursing homes and hospices for Social Security recipients over 65 or those on disability insurance. After 2033, the fund will only be able to pay 89 percent of benefits.
A federal official told Axios that hospital usage has soared in 2024 following a drop-off at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Was that foregone services from the Covid-related experience…or is there some broader change in terms of how health care is being dispensed?" the official said. "Obviously something we will continue to monitor."
Advocacy groups for Social Security beneficiaries say Congress must act fast to protect beneficiaries.
"Congress must act to protect and strengthen the Social Security that Americans have earned and paid into throughout their working lives," AARP CEO Myechia Minter-Jordan told CBS News.
"More than 69 million Americans rely on Social Security today and as America's population ages, the stability of this vital program only becomes more important,” Minter-Jordan added.
Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano, who was sworn into his position last month, says lawmakers are committed to strengthening the program.
“Congress, along with the Social Security Administration and others committed to eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, must work together to protect and strengthen the trust funds for the millions of Americans who rely on it – now and in the future – for a secure retirement or in the event of a disability,” Bisignano said in a statement on Wednesday.
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