There is much talk about President Obama’s new budget proposal. Tax hikes, Medicare cuts and other topics have become hot-button issues since the President released his new proposal. The question on many citizens’ minds is, what exactly does Obama’s plan do for Social Security Disability and how does Social Security play into the new budget proposal?
According to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the President’s new spending plan will impose new taxes only the 2 percent of the nation’s wealthiest families. The alternative, he said, would be to create more cuts in other government programs – including Social Security. Some might see this as good news since the plan to tax the wealthy avoids the need to cut benefits that are already lacking. However, this is not necessarily the case.
While the plan to increase taxes on the wealthy is a noble one, the plan itself does not tackle the fiscal imbalance of the Social Security program. The payroll taxes that are paid into the program are not enough to cover benefits and some say that the shortfall is made up by tapping into a trust fund that began when the program was last overhauled in the 80’s. Some may say that this is a sign that Social Security Disability really doesn’t play into Obama’s new plan very well at all.
However, when one considers Social Security Disability benefits, one must not only look at the monetary payments that beneficiaries receive. One must also consider the medical benefits that are provided by the Medicare and Medicaid program and a part of Obama’s plan is to make cuts in these programs. However, Obama wants to cut payments made to medical professionals – not the benefits that recipients receive. Unfortunately this may affect the quality of care that Medicare patients receive or may result in Medicare patients being responsible for more out-of-pocket expenses.
The good news is that Obama did abandon his earlier plan to restrict the cost of living adjustments that are provided to Social Security Disability recipients. While it is true that the cost of living adjustment program does need some restructuring, restricting such adjustments is akin to forcing disability beneficiaries to live on diminishing real incomes due to inflation.
So how exactly does Social Security Disability play into Obama’s plan? Not very well and it seems that Obama doesn’t even really seem to know exactly what to do with the issue. One day he wants to cut Medicare benefits. The next he wants to restrict cost of living adjustments. Then a few days later he decides restrictions to cost of living adjustments is a bad idea. Perhaps if Obama were to focus more on Social Security and the needs of the program and the crisis it is facing, he would have clearer goals set and we could all understand the direction that Social Security Disability is going in – for better or for worse.
