Social Security and Medicare are unsustainable. Kansas, Missouri need action | Opinion

More than 70 million Americans rely on Social Security and Medicare benefits in retirement. However, many are probably unaware that both programs’ trust funds are headed to zero — at which point, the law states that big cuts will happen automatically. Yet very few of our political leaders are saying much about this massive issue.

Every year, the trustees who oversee Social Security and Medicare release reports to Congress about the state of these programs. This year’s report reiterated what we’ve long known: Absent congressional action, Social Security’s retirement trust fund is projected to be insolvent in 2032, just six years from now, at which point 528,000 Kansans and more than 1.1 million Missourians would face automatic across-the-board benefit cuts of 22%. Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund is projected to be insolvent just half a year later in 2033, triggering an 11% cut to Medicare hospital payments and affecting more than 600,000 Kansans and 1.4 million Missourians.

What would this mean for the Kansas City region? In a recent state-by-state analysis based on a similar-size cut, were it to occur today, the average Kansas retiree would lose about $520 per month, while Missouri retirees would face a similar $490 monthly cut. Right between those two numbers — $500 — is more than the average American retired family spends on groceries each month.

The good news is that lawmakers still have time to prevent these abrupt cuts. The bad news is that time is running out, and delay only makes the necessary choices more painful.

Reform now, not sudden cuts later

There is no single magic fix for Social Security. Its problem is a fundamental mismatch between benefits and revenue, with an aging population causing more people to collect benefits, fewer people paying into them and benefits growing faster than revenues. A responsible solution will likely need changes to tax revenue and benefits. There are myriad ways to do this. We could cap a couple’s benefits at $100,000, or we could apply the payroll tax to all the compensation employers pay workers. We could also ask younger folks to work a year or two longer in their careers, or we could make adjustments to the benefit formula that ensures the program is largely helping those who need it. But the first step to solving this requires having an honest conversation about the tradeoffs we’ll need to make.

The same goes for Medicare. Health care costs are on the rise across the country, leading the federal government to spend an ever-growing share of its budget on Medicare. There are solutions that Congress could employ that would reduce Medicare’s costs without hurting beneficiaries, including by reducing overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans, adopting “site-neutral” payments so we aren’t paying more for the same service simply because of where it is delivered, or lowering prescription drug costs and improving incentives throughout the health care system, among others. Lawmakers can also consider ways to ensure Medicare has adequate dedicated revenue to meet its promises.

None of these choices are easy. But what are our alternatives? Allow sudden cuts later instead of thoughtful reforms now?

That is why voters should ask their lawmakers — and anyone asking for their vote — a simple question: What is your plan to fix Social Security and Medicare? If the answer is vague, evasive or little more than a promise “not to touch” the programs, they should ask the follow-up: The default outcome is across-the-board cuts — are you endorsing that?

The best path may be a bipartisan commission, with both parties putting all options on the table and Congress committing to an up-or-down vote. Remove the political drama and focus on solutions.

For years, Social Security and Medicare trustees have warned that the programs are on unsustainable paths. Each year, Washington ignores that warning. But soon, what was once a future problem will become a current crisis. Congress should stop ignoring the warning signs and start fixing these programs before the people who depend on them pay the price.

Maya MacGuineas is president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.