Overview

• Trustees’ annual report finds Social Security’s combined trust funds will be exhausted in 2034, one year sooner than last year’s estimate
• Medicare Part A’s hospital insurance fund is now expected to deplete in 2033, three years earlier than projected, leaving only 89 percent of scheduled benefits payable
• Officials cite the Social Security Fairness Act, slower earnings growth forecasts and increased 2024 medical spending as drivers of the accelerated depletion
• At insolvency, payroll tax revenues would cover just 81 percent of Social Security benefits, implying a 19 percent reduction for roughly 71 million beneficiaries
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and fellow trustees urged lawmakers to enact reforms this year to protect full benefits and address a $25.1 trillion shortfall through 2099