Will the Bush Benefit Cuts Impact Disability Benefits?

Figures Cast Doubt on Administration Claims that Disability Benefits Would be Protected. "Analysis by the Social Security Administration's actuaries shows that Mr. Pozen's plan would reduce benefits for average earners retiring in 2075 by 28 percent, relative to the current benefit structure, and that this reduction would apply equally to retirees, survivors and people with disabilities. The actuaries also have reported that the benefit reductions under the Pozen plan would close about 70 percent of the 75-year Social Security shortfall. The White House last night [April 30, 2005] issued a fact sheet stating that its proposals, too, would close 70 percent of Social Security's financing problems. To do that, the President's plan either must cut disability and survivor benefits substantially -- after all, one-sixth of the savings in the Pozen plan come just from reductions in disability benefits -- or cut retirement benefits for middle-class workers even more deeply." [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 4/29/05]