Americans are worried that entitlement 🟧 programs will not be there for them as Social Security and Medicare face fiscal cliffs in the coming decade with little movement from Congress to address them.
A growing share of Americans are fearful the these programs will not be there for them in the same way it was for their parents and grandparents, according to the West Health-Gallup 2024 Survey on Aging in America.
🟧 “entitlement” is not a dirty word. We are entitled to SS and Medicare because there are laws that provide for it.
The inaction by and incompetence of Congress past and present unfairly and unnecessarily frightens older Americans.
You can view the Survey here. Following is an excerpt from their press release.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
— June 5, 2024 — Concerns over the potential insolvency of Medicare among those under 65 have risen, with 73% now expressing worry that it won’t be available when they need it, up from 67% in 2022, according to the new West Health-Gallup 2024 Survey on Aging in America. Worry rose most amongst those aged 50 to 64, up 13 percentage points to 74%. Higher percentages of adult’s express concern about the future of Social Security, with 80% of people under 62 and 86% of people aged 40 to 49 fearing it will not be around once they are eligible.Concerns over the potential insolvency of Medicare among those under 65 have risen, with 73% now expressing worry that it won’t be available when they need it, up from 67% in 2022, according to the new West Health-Gallup 2024 Survey on Aging in America. Worry rose most amongst those aged 50 to 64, up 13% percentage points to 74%. Higher percentages of adult’s express concern about the future of Social Security, with 80% of people under 62 and 86% of people aged 40 to 49 fearing it will not be around once they are eligible.
But the Survey on Aging in America finds it’s not just the future people are worried about — they’re struggling now. An estimated 72.2 million — or nearly one in three adults — Americans have not sought needed healthcare in the last three months due to the cost, including 8.1 million Americans aged 65 and older. Nearly one-third (31%) are concerned about their ability to pay for prescription drugs in the next 12 months, up significantly from 25% in 2022. This concern is rising even faster among older Americans, who experienced an 11-point increase from 20% to 31% in the last two years.
Many seniors feel they are shortchanged by government – that is, younger taxpayers. Yet, according to the Congressiinal Budget Office (CBO) Mandatory outlays by the federal government totaled $3.8 trillion in 2023; more than half was for Social Security and Medicare. The largest increases over the past 20 years have been for the major health care programs.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
The problem with the word entitlement is the varied definitions. On one hand it means “the amount to which a person has a right” and the other where “one believes he/she is inherently entitled, deserving or privileged of special treatment!”
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Benefit Jack gave an excellent analysis–thanks for the time you spent doing this–so, what do we surmise? Politicians buying votes by promising more and more than we, as a nation, can afford. If we could afford it then we would have paid for the increased benefits along the way, but you don’t buy votes that way.
Of course we now hear about Medicare for all and we are supposed to believe we will be able to pay for it–good luck 15-20 years down the road.
Thanks again for the hard work and time–brings forth some good talking points.
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We could do Medicare for all – not the Sanders version – because we are already spending the money, just more inefficiently. However, politicians do what they do because voters don’t want the truth and won’t vote for anyone who dares tell it. Many seem to believe if we just tax the wealthy more all will be well.
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I think you are correct–
I personally think it will take a crisis to move some of these things along-remember it took years before the folks in power decided illegal immigration was something they had to deal with and that was because of the upcoming election–
now we have 8 ISIS members picked up last week and they arrived via our porous border
–I suspect a rescue plan for SS and Medicare does not register in the polls when they ask about concerns for November–immigration/inflation/abortion would be in the top 10–if checks were reduced by 20% and/or benefits were cut you would see action and fast.
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BenefitJack has laid out a comprehensive assessment of how we got here. The declining number of workers per retiree has been known for years. Years ago, I’ve looked around McDonalds while drinking my coffee and thought there is not enough payroll here to cover my Social Security.
There is no need to be fearful, just mindful, that the great scheme has hit a dry spell. It’s belt tightening time for the McDonalds crew as well as the oldsters. It’s not news, the word has been out for 20 years or more.
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OK Boomer. Can someone please take a look at each generation (however arbitrarily our government or society wants to define it), and confirm which generation funded (or given current trends will fund) the majority of their entitlements (caused or paid enough in FICA and FICA-Med, once adjusted for earnings on trust assets to cover the projected Social Security and Medicare benefits?
I’m pretty sure what you will find is that Congress bought votes by increasing Social Security benefits (specifically, soon after the first beneficiary started receiving payments … throughout the 1940’s – 1970’s), adding Medicare (in 1964 and 2003), bestowing ever improving entitlements to individuals who did not shoulder an equivalent burden. That slowed (but didn’t stop) in 1983 with the Social Social Security Amendments Act of 1983.
Yes that is the Silent Generation (1928 – 1945), the Greatest Generation (1901 – 1927), and the Lost Generation (born 1883-1900). A Silent born in the last year of their generation, 1927, paid only $3,571 in FICA taxes if they were at the maximum wage base in 1993, the year they reached age 65. Someone born in 1959, reaching age 65 this year, has a maximum FICA tax at age 65 of $10,416.
However, for comparison, someone born in 1927, at age 22, when entering the workforce, would have been subject to a maximum FICA tax of 1% of their first $3,000 in wages, or $30. Obviously, someone born in 2002, entering the workforce today, has a maximum FICA tax of $10,416.
Simply, Congress bought votes by improving benefits for every generation of seniors prior to the Baby Boomers (without asking for additional funding from those generations) … the same thing happened with Medicare, where the HI tax in 1966 was .7% of the $6,600 wage base, or $46. Today, there is no wage base for Medicare and there are various surcharges in the income tax system. An individual earning the Social Security Wage Base maximum would pay $2,436 for FICA-Med, Hospital Insurance, and much, much, much more to fund Medicare Part B and Part D benefits for today’s 65+MM Medicare beneficiaries.
We know where to place the blame… someone needs to share accurate data with Gen X, Gen Y and future generations … that is, the Baby Boomers, once adjusted for “earnings”, likely funded much more of their entitlements than any prior generation.
Year Rate Max Wage Max Tax
1937 1.00% $3,000 $30
1950 1.00% $3,000 $30
1951 1.50% $3,600 $54
1954 2.00% $3,600 $72
1955 2.00% $4,200 $84
1957 2.50% $4,200 $105
1959 2.50% $4,800 $120
1960 3.00% $4,800 $144
1962 3.13% $4,800 $150
1963 3.63% $4,800 $174
1966 3.85% $6,600 $254
1967 3.90% $6,600 $257
1968 3.80% $7,800 $296
1969 4.20% $7,800 $328
1971 4.60% $7,800 $359
1972 4.60% $9,000 $414
1973 4.85% $10,800 $524
1974 4.95% $13,200 $653
1975 4.95% $14,100 $698
1976 4.95% $15,300 $757
1977 4.95% $16,500 $817
1978 5.05% $17,700 $894
1979 5.08% $22,900 $1,163
1980 5.08% $25,900 $1,316
1981 5.35% $29,700 $1,589
1982 5.40% $32,400 $1,750
1983 5.40% $35,700 $1,928
1984 5.70% $37,800 $2,155
1985 5.70% $39,600 $2,257
1986 5.70% $42,000 $2,394
1987 5.70% $43,800 $2,497
1988 6.06% $45,000 $2,727
1989 6.06% $48,000 $2,909
1990 6.20% $51,300 $3,181
1991 6.20% $53,400 $3,311
1992 6.20% $55,500 $3,441
1993 6.20% $57,600 $3,571
2024 6.20% $168,000 $10,416
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Oops, typo, that is a person from the Greatest Generation, born in the last year of their generation, 1927 …
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