Call it another casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Social Security and Medicare trust funds, already in ill health, are about to become sicker from the coronavirus. The economic recession triggered by the pandemic means a drop in payroll tax revenues that finance the trust funds.
While projections vary and remain highly uncertain, economists and policy analysts across the ideological spectrum say the trust funds are now likely to deplete their reserves at a quicker pace than they would have before the pandemic hit. The net effect could shave years off the time lawmakers have to find a financial fix for the trust funds before they become insolvent. Continue reading.