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The Social Security Trustees forecast that the disability trust fund will be completely exhausted by 201What do you feel should be done to ensure that the disabled continue to receive their benefits?.There is a warm can of soda sitting on the window ledge..The index used to determine the COLA of retirees does not measure the spending patterns of retirees, but younger workers instead. Retirees, we all know, spend their money differently than younger people and must spend a far bigger share of their budgets on housing and medical costs - two categories of spending that often rise several times faster than overall inflation..TSCL understands that the budget deficit is growing out of hand. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the massive tax reform and budget bills recently adopted by Congress will cost the federal government an estimated .7 trillion over the next ten years. However, TSCL firmly believes that a constitutional balanced budget amendment, that would disproportionately impact seniors and limit the ability of Congress to respond to economic downturns, is not the solution to the problem..Use Retirement Savings or Start Social Security Early to Cover Large Medical Expenses?.Each Agency on Aging provides a different list of services, but there are some basic services that are provided by nearly all. These include the following:.Raising the Retirement Age: People are living longer now, and gradually raising the retirement age would bring Social Security benefits in line with this new reality. This would close between 15 and 21 percent of the program's long-term shortfall. We would not support any proposal that would cut the benefits of today's beneficiaries..Prior to their recess the House of Representatives was able to pass 10 of the 12 spending bills that are needed to fund the government for fiscal year 2020. However, as has been the case for several years, the Senate lags behind. As a result, the Senate has been discussing combining various spending bills instead of passing them one by one..A key unresolved issue is whether undocumented immigrants, who illegally worked using invalid or fake Social Security numbers, would be able to claim work credits towards benefits for those earnings. Work authorization, or "green cards," not citizenship, is the key requirement for noncitizens to become entitled to Social Security benefits and Medicare when other program qualifications are met. According to the Congressional Budget Office, even "limited" immigration changes that provide only permission to work in this country, or temporary work authorization, could potentially add millions of new claims in the future. Under current law Social Security benefits are based on all earnings, including earnings from jobs worked without authorization under invalid and fraudulent documents.