What is the significance of the Older American’s Act?
What is the significance of the Older American’s Act?
The significance is to help elderly people who wish to remain in their owns homes. By providing the essential services to our most vulnerable seniors, such as many states are required to address the services to the elderly with the greatest need both financially and socially, “with particular attention to low-income minority individuals, older individuals residing in rural areas, low-income individuals, and frail individuals” (Fox-Grage et al., 2015).
How are funds distributed? “Each state receives Older American’s Act funds according to a formula based on the state’s share of the U.S. population age sixty and older”(Fox-Grage et al., 2015).
What kinds of services are offered, and who benefits? Providing services to help seniors stay as independent as possible in their homes and communities such as in-home services, caregivers support, transportation, meals-on-wheels and more. The primary significance of the Older Americans Act is to improve the overall quality of life for seniors.
What is Social Security (regarding older people), and how does it work? Social Security works by providing retirement support for American workers who have paid into the system. It is funded through FICA taxes (FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act). According to Social Security (n.d.), the Social Security program was created by the Federal Government and the Federal Old-Age Benefits section of the Social Security Act became effective on January 1, 1937. The Act stated that all workers would now be required to set up a Nation-wide retirement benefit plan, that would “build up rights to the payment of regular monthly benefits beginning at the age of 65”. Further stating that the “benefits will always be to more than the employee had paid in taxes, no matter the age of the worker when they first began to work and started paying taxes during that time. (Social Security, n.d.).
What are the current challenges to the long-term feasibility of the program?
According to Social Security (n.d.), the 2018 Trustees Report it shows that the estimated number of retired workers will continue to grow at rapid past, as generation baby boomers of the post–World War II continue to retire in increasing numbers. Projecting double the amount in of retired workers in about fifty years from now. Also, factoring in the fact that the life expectancy is continuing to grow and the birth rate at an all-time low. Therefore, as a result, the Trustees predict “a ratio of 2.8 in Social Security taxes that were paid to each person collecting benefits in 2017 will fall to 2.2 to 1 in 2034″(Social Security, n.d.).
Briefly, state the main options for Social Security reform and present arguments for the possibility that you think will “save” Social Security.
Raise the full retirement age
Because we are living longer, healthier lives and the lifespan is continuing to rise, then why not raise the retirement age? Just by extending the retirement age to say to 67 would further reduce benefits for people who claimed at age 62 to 70 percent for retirement benefits and 65 percent for spousal benefits. Otherwise, we are paying 60 something to stop working which is a waste of brains and tax dollars.