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Could Cuts Be Coming To Your Social Security Disability Benefits?

Whether you've been receiving federal disability benefits for years or have only recently applied for Social Security Disability (SSD) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits after becoming too disabled to work, you may have been concerned about recent reports that an across-the-board benefits cut of as much as 20 percent could be coming. While the 2016 budget deal has kicked this can down the road for the time being, there are still some issues with an imbalance between the revenues and expenditures of the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund that could impact your future benefits. Read on to learn more about the funding source of your benefits and how you can prepare for any potential changes.

How are SSD and SSI benefits funded?

The Social Security Administration manages two trust funds to provide benefits for disabled and retired Americans the Social Security Retirement Fund and the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund. As the names imply, these funds serve separate and distinct purposes and are funded from different sources of tax revenue. The Social Security Retirement Fund is designed to be self-sustaining in that expenditures are offset by tax revenues; while self-sustaining is also a goal for the Disability Fund, the increase in the number of individuals receiving benefits under this program has resulted in a steady drop in reserves. It was only by borrowing from the Social Security Retirement Fund to cover the shortfall that the Administration was able to avoid putting a benefit cut into place in 2016 or 2017.

Could your benefits be subject to a cut in the future?

With a new President-elect who hasn't held political office that could generate a voting record on Social Security issues, it's nearly impossible to predict what changes may come in the future; however, the sweeping tax cuts announced could eventually trickle down to affect the Social Security Retirement Fund, which could prevent similar loans in the future. However, any changes to either of these benefit programs will need to be ratified by Congress before becoming effective, which gives citizens the chance to speak up and contact their elected representatives to express support of continued benefits.

In addition to becoming politically connected, you'll want to stay up to date on news reports about any changes in benefits. You may opt to set up an email alert that will send you the top headlines for your search phrase on a daily or weekly basis to make sure you're as well-prepared for any potential benefit cuts as you can be. For more information, contact a professional disability lawyer in your area or visit a website like http://www.johnehornattorney.com.


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