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Social Security Faces Unfunded Liability of $8.6 trillion
By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
April 27th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
April 27th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
The statistics are grim. According to the 2012 Annual Report of the
Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and
Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds, Social Security faces an
unfunded liability of $8.6 trillion. This figure translates roughly to
$73,167.83 per U.S. household
The $8.6 trillion in unfunded benefits Social Security is expected to pay over the next 75 years equals $73,167.83 for each of the 117,538,000 households the Census Bureau said were in the United States in 2010.
The report also shows that when considering the unfunded obligations over an "infinite horizon," which is the period extending into the indefinite future. The $8.6 trillion shortfall balloons to $20.5 trillion.
"Extending the horizon beyond 75 years increases the measured unfunded obligation," the report said.
"Through the infinite horizon, the unfunded obligation, or shortfall, equals $20.5 trillion in present value, which represents 3.9 percent of future taxable payroll or 1.3 percent of future GDP," reads the report.
The report adds that the 2012 estimate for unfunded obligations over the infinite horizon has increased from the $17.9 trillion in the 2011 report.
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Service's Office of the Actuaries has predicted what this can mean for seniors. By the end of this decade, the fees that Medicare pays to doctors will be lower than what Medicaid pays. From an economic view, seniors will represent a less profitable sector than welfare mothers represent. Also by the end of the decade, one in seven hospitals will be forced out of business.
© 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.