Medicare and Social Security can be fixed, but not by ignoring them | STAFF COMMENTARY

There was good news and bad news out of Woodlawn this past week.

The good news is that, thanks to a stronger-than-expected economy, Medicare and Social Security will remain solvent a little bit longer than expected. Social Security’s trust funds covering both retirement and survivor benefits will not face a shortfall until early 2035 instead of 2034 as was projected last year. The fund covering disability benefits is in much better shape. Medicare’s hospitalization fund, meanwhile, comes up short in 2036, which is a full five years later than previously forecast. But clearly, none of this is grounds for celebration. If nothing is done, both of the popular programs will have to reduce benefits. Social Security Administration Commissioner and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has projected a potential 17% cut to Social Security payments, which is no small matter for seniors many of whom may barely be scraping by on their monthly retirement checks as it is.

But here’s the really bad news. We aren’t hearing much serious discussion about how to address this looming problem, and each year, each month, each week that goes by makes these shortfalls that much more difficult to address. Instead, what we’re hearing, if anything, from candidates for federal office is how much they stand behind these immensely popular programs. President Joe Biden has certainly promised to protect these entitlements. But then so has former President Donald Trump, at least he has lately. What’s missing is specifics — or even an acknowledgment of exactly what’s taking place, the complexity of issues involved and how there are difficult choices ahead no matter what.

To be blunt, Americans have heard more this past week on Stormy Daniels and details of her sexual encounters with Trump, thanks to breathless cable TV coverage, than they have about the uncertain future of one of the federal government’s most sacred public obligations given how Social Security alone benefits 71 million Americans. One can certainly argue which is the more entertaining topic, but it’s easy to see which is the more important. It’s time Biden, Trump and anyone running for the U.S. Senate or U.S. House of Representatives is held to task: What do you plan to do, specifically, to cover these shortfalls and blanket generalizations like “I’ll not cut benefits” or “I’ll not raise payroll taxes” just don’t cut it.

In fact, Americans should show no tolerance for demagoguery in these matters. Some of the shortfall is simply a matter of demographics. Americans are living longer and having fewer children. The former means bigger payouts, the latter means fewer individuals paying payroll taxes to support their elders. Ask anyone in the private insurance business, adjustments have to be made. Both raising taxes and reducing benefits need to be on the table. But so should growing the workforce, which is where immigration could well play a roll. Or here’s an even easier fix: Why not raise the cutoff so that high earners pay more (above the current limit of $168,600)? That’s not raising taxes so much as reducing an exemption.

This much is certain: What’s happening at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or the Social Security Administration won’t be hashed out responsibly or in needed detail unless an awful lot of political feet are held to the fire. And without some kind of firm direction coming out of this year’s election, you can bet that Congress will dither and delay after members are sworn in to a new term, particularly given the already-contentious political atmosphere and especially if Trump is returned to the White House. That’s just the reality of a man who has demonstrated, repeatedly, an aversion to making hard choices that don’t directly benefit him. And then there’s his anti-immigration stance which would be exceedingly unhelpful to any hope of growing the workforce through comprehensive immigration reform.

Still, polls show Americans really, really care about these benefits. Elected officials who fail to take needed steps to bring them back into balance could pay (at least eventually) an enormous price at the ballot box.

Baltimore Sun editorial writers offer opinions and analysis on news and issues relevant to readers. They operate separately from the newsroom.