5/21/2013
Accounting II
Peyton Simpson The history of SSI started in 1935 under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Since then almost every administration has made changes to this program. “This trend began with Old-Age Insurance, followed by Survivors Insurance in 1939, and Disability Insurance, which was signed by President Eisenhower in 1956. In 1974, President Nixon added Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for low-income workers. The original Social Security mandate was also expanded to include Medicare and Medicaid (Advance).” Some other changes more recently have added more benefits to this well known plan. “The most significant legislative change to Medicare--called the Medicare Modernization Act or MMA--was signed into law by another President from Texas, George W. Bush, on December 8, 2003. This historic legislation adds an outpatient prescription drug benefit to Medicare and makes many other important changes (Cms).” With the changes in these programs though it always for people to take advantage of the system. Certain people feel the idea of working is not worth the value of sitting home living off this system. Not everyone does this on assistance but for the few that do it means not paying taxes into SSI. “Today 12 percent of the total population is aged 65 or older, but by 2080, it will be 23 percent. At the same time, the working-age population is shrinking from 60 percent today to a projected 54 percent in 2080. Consequently, the Social Security system is experiencing a declining worker-to-beneficiary ratio, which will fall from 3.3 in 2005 to 2.1 in 2040 (the year in which the Social Security trust fund is projected to be exhausted). (SSA)” The current worker ratio to retirees continues to drop which allows for not enough to be paid in and too much to be took out. Another factor contributing to this is the fact of a shrinking economy. People that once worked but, got laid off no longer contribute to SSI with a paycheck