What are the proposed Social Security reforms?
There have been many proposed reforms of the Social Security system that would rectify the projected shortfall. Many of these proposals involve suggested adjustments to the current structure of the program. The major proposals include: • Increasing the retirement age and indexing it to current longevity standards. Already the retirement age is scheduled to increase to age 66 for those born after 1943 and to 67 for those born after 1959. • Increasing Social Security taxes by raising the $80,400 income limit (currently $80,000) or eliminating the limit entirely. The separate Medicare tax limit has been already raised to $125,000. • Mandating Social Security coverage and participation to 3.7 million state and local government employees who are currently excluded from the program. Other proposals involve a fundemental change to the structure of Social Security program itself. These proposals include converting the Social Security program to a “means tested” program thereby excluding higher
