During the recent debate, both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump discussed the future of Social Security and Medicare, two critical entitlement programs facing financial challenges.
Social Security, which supports monthly payments to the elderly, survivors, and people with disabilities, is projected to exhaust its trust funds by 2035 if no action is taken by Congress. After that point, only 83% of benefits owed will be covered by payroll tax revenue and other income sources.
President Biden has proposed increasing taxes on higher-income Americans to bolster Social Security's finances and has criticized a conservative House Republican budget proposal that includes benefit cuts. He has also voiced opposition to any cuts in the program, contrasting with Trump's vague stance on addressing Social Security's fiscal issues.
Trump has not provided detailed plans on how he would address Social Security's financial challenges. While he mentioned the possibility of cutting entitlements in a CNBC interview, he later clarified that he was referring to addressing theft and mismanagement in Social Security and Medicare, reiterating his commitment to protecting these programs.
On the Medicare front, the program's hospital insurance trust fund (Medicare Part A) is projected to cover scheduled inpatient hospital benefits until 2036, after which it will only be able to pay 89% of total scheduled benefits unless Congress intervenes.
Biden has put forth a plan to address Medicare's financial issues by raising taxes on wealthier individuals and redirecting savings from proposed Medicare drug reforms into the trust fund. In contrast, Trump has not presented a specific solution for Medicare's financial sustainability.
As the election approaches, experts like Gary Engelhardt, an economics professor at Syracuse University, do not anticipate detailed proposals from either candidate on Social Security and Medicare before the election.
