Extending the Life of Social Security

Sanders said his legislation to lift the cap on payroll taxes and expand benefits would extend the life of the Social Security trust funds by 58 years. Not quite. The Social Security Administrations chief actuary said this month that Sanders bill would extend the trust funds by 40 years, from 2034 to 2074.

Sanders is the sponsor of the Social Security Expansion Act. To pay for an expansion in benefits, the bill would lift the contribution limit on the Social Security payroll tax, which now applies to earnings up to $118,500 .

The Vermont senator challenged Clinton to support his legislation.

Sanders: And heres an area where Secretary Clinton and I believe we have a difference. I have long supported the proposition that we should lift the cap on taxable income coming into the Social Security Trust Fund, starting at $250,000. And when we and when we do that, we dont do what the Republicans want, which is to cut Social Security. We do what the American people want, to expand Social Security by $1,300 a year for people under $16,000, and we extend the life of Social Security for 58 years.

Stephen Goss, chief actuary for the Social Security Administration, twice has looked at the financial impact of Sanders bill on the combined Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance trust funds.

In a March 26, 2015, letter to Sanders, Goss projected that under Sanders bill, the year of reserve depletion for the combined OASDI Trust Funds would be extended by 32 years, from 2033 under current law to 2065.

A year later, Goss increased the projected lifespan of the trust funds by another eight years to 40 years.

Assuming enactment of the proposal, we estimate the funding for the combined OASI and DI Trust Funds would be sufficient to extend the projected year of reserve depletion from 2034 to 2074, Goss wrote in a Feb. 4 letter to Sanders.

Under current law, full scheduled benefits would continue through 2033 and then drop to 79 percent in 2034, 74 percent in 2074 and 73 percent in 2089, Goss wrote. But under Sanders bill, full benefits would be paid through 2073, with benefits being reduced to 88 percent in 2074 and 87 percent beginning in 2089.

A Sanders spokesman told us the senator was referring to 58 years from now, meaning from 2016 to 2074. But Sanders said we extend the life of Social Security for 58 years, taking credit for 18 years when the Social Security trust funds will pay out full benefits whether his bill passes or not.

African Americans and the ACA

Clinton said that the Affordable Care Act has helped more African Americans than any other group to get insurance, to be taken care of. But the Obama administrations own figures show a larger drop in the uninsured among Latinos.

The Department of Health and Human Services released an analysis in late September, saying 17.6 million had gained health insurance coverage under the ACA. The administration said that figure included three groups: young adults who were able to stay on their parents policies until age 26, those who signed up for the Medicaid expansion and those who gained coverage through the state and federal insurance marketplaces.

The rate of uninsured African American adults dropped by 10.3 percentage points, a greater decline than among whites but not as much as the rate drop for Latinos. Here are the HHS figures for the decline in the uninsured between October 2013 and Sept. 12, 2015:

• 4 million Latino adults gained coverage, with the uninsured rate dropping 11.5 percentage points to 30.3 percent
• 2.6 million African American adults gained coverage, with the uninsured rate dropping 10.3 percentage points to 12.1 percent
• 7.4 million white adults gained coverage, with the uninsured rate dropping 6 percentage points to 8.3 percent

An HHS fact sheet, also released in September 2015, said generally that the Affordable Care Act is working to increase access to affordable, quality health care. This is especially true of the African-American Community. But in terms of the uninsured, the coverage gains have been greater for Latinos.

A December 2014 Urban Institute report projected the ACA could substantially narrow differences in uninsurance rates between whites and all racial/ethnic minorities, except blacks, because blacks disproportionately live in states that did not expand Medicaid.