Social Security Reform: Raising the Retirement Ages Would Have Implications for Older Workers and SSA Disability Rolls

Question: What are the characteristics of those nearing retirement and how likely is it that they will be able to continue working should the retirement ages be raised? What policy options might help to reduce adverse effects on those who are unable to work longer? Finding: Using the NIA-funded Health and Retirement Study and citing a number of studies conducted by NIA-funded researchers, GAO found that raising the retirement ages would likely increase the number of workers applying for and receiving benefits through the Disability Insurance (DI) program. This increase would offset some of the savings implied by the retirement age increases, as well as increasing the DI caseload and administrative costs (which tend to be higher than retirement program costs). Waiting until later to receive benefits could also create financial hardship for some workers, namely those that are unable to continue working but do not qualify for DI or other governmental assistance programs. While policy options exist to mitigate the impact on affected workers, doing so will likely require expanding programs and increase benefit costs. Finding the balance between worker protections and costs will likely be challenging.

public policy/retirement planning/disability insurance

62564