The non-partisan Office of the Chief Actuary for the Social Security Administration [SSA] released their official score of the Social Security provisions of A Roadmap for America’s Future. Earlier this year, Congressman Paul Ryan introduced an updated version of his Roadmap proposal – aimed to fulfill the mission of health and retirement security, pay off our crushing burden of debt, and spur economic growth.

The Actuaries report confirms earlier findings from the Congressional Budget Office [CBO], which found Ryan’s Roadmap would pay off the long-run actuarial deficit in Social Security, while strengthening the safety net for society’s most vulnerable. By providing common-sense reforms, such as modest adjustments in benefit growth for higher-income Americans and gradual increases in the retirement age, the Roadmap makes Social Security permanently solvent.

Specifically:

• Currently, Social Security’s long-run actuarial deficit is 2.00% of payroll – which is $5.3 trillion in present value terms. SSA’s Actuaries certify that the Roadmap erases this deficit, making Social Security permanently solvent. In contrast, the unsustainable status quo would impose 24% across-the-board benefit cuts to keep the program afloat.

  The Roadmap requires no net general revenue transfers over the 75-year period, and strengthens the federal government’s long-term fiscal position.

• The Roadmap meets criteria for “sustainable solvency,” as Social Security’s trust fund assets are expected to remain on the rise at the end of the 75-year period.

   

  The Roadmap guarantees that every dime placed in a personal savings account is guaranteed – even after inflation; also provides for a benefit enhancement for the lowest earning Americans, providing that those most reliant on Social Security receive benefits well above the poverty level.

The report was released shortly after the first meeting of the President’s Fiscal Commission, where Democrats and Republicans echoed the need to serious reform to avert our looming fiscal crisis. Absent reform, vital government programs like Social Security will be unable to meet their obligations, imposing devastating cuts for our nation’s senior citizens. A Roadmap for America’s Future, as analyzed by the non-partisan government actuaries and the CBO, remains the only viable legislative solution put forth to get our fiscal house in order.

To read the full SSA Actuaries’ report, please visit: http://house.gov/budget_republicans/press/2007/042710ryanbillletterfinal.pdf