GAO REPORT EXAMINES WAYS TO STRENGTHEN SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS FOR MOST VULNERABLE POPULATIONS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today U.S. Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, released a study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on options for strengthening Social Security benefits for those populations who need them most. At a hearing on the topic held last June, Chairman Kohl called for reform proposals to be submitted to the Committee. The GAO study will be part of a more comprehensive Senate Special Aging Committee report on Social Security due out next month. 

 

"With our health reform efforts nearing a successful conclusion, we can expect that sometime soon all eyes will turn to Social Security. We must make sure that any debate considers ways to strengthen the program for those who need it most.  This report provides a range of concrete policy options that should be part of any discussion concerning the future of Social Security," Kohl said.

 

GAO focused their recommendations on three vulnerable beneficiary groups: lifetime low earners, who are less likely to have substantial savings or receive pensions; low-income women, who tend to have lower retirement income than men because they may have taken time out of the workforce to raise children or worked part-time, and often earn lower wages; and the oldest beneficiaries, who are at risk for outliving their retirement savings. 

 

In the report, GAO identifies and assesses reform options to target these vulnerable populations, including guaranteeing a minimum benefit; reducing work requirements for eligibility; supplementing benefits for low-income single workers; adopting earnings sharing; reducing the marriage duration required for spousal benefits; providing caregiver credits; increasing survivor benefits; and providing longevity insurance.  GAO also considers how bolstering benefits for lifetime low earners, low-income women, and the oldest Americans might affect the additional assistance these groups often receive from other federal programs, including Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known formerly as the Food Stamp Program.

 

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The GAO report can be found here:  http://www.aging.senate.gov/letters/gaossreform.pdf