Fichtner: “Time is running out for policy makers to reform the disability-insurance program”

Over at Marketwatch, Jason Fichtner of the Mercatus Center writes on the pending insolvency of the Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund:

As we await the coming spring release of the 2015 Social Security Trustees report, it's important to recall that the 2014 report showed a continuation of the current trend toward insolvency of both the retirement and disability trust funds. The trustees last estimated that Social Security's combined Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) trust funds will become exhausted in 2033, less than 20 years from now. While the larger retirement fund is estimated to be depleted in 2034, the disability trust fund will run empty in 2016, right in time for the presidential election. It's unlikely that the 2015 report will show much, if any, improvement.

You can check out the whole column here.