It ain’t broke yet, but federal disability insurance still needs some big fixes
“Every so often, the federal government’s financial performance surprises on the upside. Recent case in point: new data in the annual report of the Social Security trustees showing unexpected resiliency in the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program. Just three years ago, in July 2015, the Obama administration warned that the program’s reserves were so low that it might not be able to cover expected benefits in 2016. Now, the trustees say the program will be solvent until 2032. Declining disability insurance receipts may be one reason that labor force participation by ‘prime-age’ workers, those between the ages of 25 and 54, has ticked up from 80.6 percent in September 2015 to 81.8 in May 2018.”