The Financial Outlook for Social Security and Medicare (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised March 29, 2004 |
| Report Number |
95-543 |
| Authors |
Dawn Nuschler, Domestic Social Policy Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The 2004 annual reports of the board of trustees of the Social Security andMedicare trust funds were released on March 23, 2004. While the financial status of theSocial Security program is little changed, Medicare's financial difficulties are moresevere. Social Security continues to face projected long-range financing problems, withinsolvency projected to occur in 2029 for the Disability Insurance (DI) part of SocialSecurity and 2044 for the retirement and survivors part. On a combined basis, the twoparts would become insolvent in 2042, the same point projected last year and 13 yearslater than projected in 1997. Insolvency of the Hospital Insurance (HI) part of Medicareis projected to occur in 2019, 7 years earlier than projected last year. In the long run, thefinancing gap for Social Security dropped slightly from 1.92% to 1.89% of taxablepayroll, an amount equal to about 14% of the program's projected income. Theprojected long-range funding shortfall for the HI program increased from 2.4% to 3.12%of taxable payroll, an amount equal to about 92% of the program's projected income.
