social security and medicare are the twin pillars of retirement security in this country. they are as president obama has said, expressions of the fact that we are one nation. these programs which are rooted in a basic american sense of fairness and responsibility have been supported across generations by both political parties in both democratic and republican administrations. thank you. i'm going to turn the floor over to my colleague and fellow trustee. thank you secretary geithner, today's report confirms that medicare is in a much stronger position than a few years ago thanks to a affordable care act. without the health care law, the hospital insurance trust fund would be exhausted in 2016 just four years from now. but as a result of the law we've added another eight years to its life putting medicare on much more solid ground. the law does this through a range of reforms. from cracking down on fraud to helping providers prevent costly medical errors, to reducing excess payments to medicare advantage plans. as a report our department released today shows, this first w

one people are applying for social security benefits. let me address that in the context of the projections that we make working for our board of trustees in the administration. working with our advisory board and their technical panel and others in developing aassumptions and projections into the future of what the cost of social security, the retirement system and the disability system are looking like in the future. well, first of all, let me flip to a slide. got to have a picture. the slide -- there are two ways, i think, that we could really address this question of why we had this run-up in claims and people applying for disability. one is a near-term psych lickal phenomenon which relates to the fact we had a recent, pretty significant recession in this country, as you all know. the recession resulted in a lot of people becoming unemployed. we went up to a 10% unemployment rate, and when people become unemployed they seek a way to continue having income, and people that can qualify for the sdpabled worker benefits, of course, go an

. >> according to the treasury department social security and medicare financial status report, the social security trust fund for retirees and disability will run dry in 2033. three years earlier than projected last year. this is 30 minutes. >> good afternoon and welcome. i want to welcome my fellow trustees from the treasury and take this opportunity to thank the chief actuaries, steve gossen rick foster and their staffs brought their hard work on these reports. every year as you know the social security and medicare boards of trustees issue reports to congress on the strength of these two indispensable programs, and we just minutes to complete this year's financial review and to transmit to congress the final reports. millions of americans rely on social security and medicare for income and for health care, and billions more will do so in the future. as today's report makes clear these programs have the resources they need to fulfill their commitments to the american people for years to come, but what these reports also reinforce is that we must take steps to keep these programs hole fo

social security, the social security system from the beginning has been very closely monitored and has always been very conservatively managed. so efly year it projects out 75 years. now when you project out that far you going to show these fluctiations. recently trustees reports have shown that the exhaas shen date is 2028, others show 2048. so 2033, 2035, 2036 are all within that range. the important point is what you said, social security is projected to have a $60 billion surplus this year. it has a 2.7 trillion dollar accumulated reserve. and it has two decades, 20 years to-- congress has 20 years to figure out, ideally sooner to give peace of mind, but of all the federal programs it is in the best shape. >> suarez: david john, generally in good shape or generally in danger. >> generally in danger. today's report essentially is similar to if you are falling. the good news is we haven't hit the ground yet. but the trajectory is accelerating. >> suarez: with you both looking at the same stats what is giving you such a gloomier outlook? >> well, because the overall actuaryial deficit

it calls for social security reform that reforms social security to make it solvent, not for deficit reduction. all the savings from social security go to extending the solvency of social security, none for deficit reduction. it restores the 75-year solvency of social security. it strengthens the safety net with an enhanced minimum benefit for low wage workers. a bump up in benefits for our oldest seniors, and the longtime disabled. and a hardship exemption for those unable to work past 62. all of these were part of the original bowles-simpson proposal and i've carried them through to this proposal. it gradually increases the maximum level of wages taxed for social security and raises the retirement age, but only very gradually, reaching age 69 by 2075. with respect to the enhance the minimum benefit provision, i received a commitment during the fiscal commission discussions that it would be better targeted to protect low-income b beneficiaries and i am committed to seeing that provision improved. the fiscal commission budget plan also includes the fundamental tax reform that was inc

and social security. social security disability and medicare.s a shot at the paul ryan plan. the treasury secretary, today. i mean, that is really low ball. the truth is obama has done nothing. there are bipartisan plans out there. on medicare, there was certainly one in the clinton administration. he had a panel that proposed something very much like the premium support plan that paul ryan and the republicans in the house proposed. and then there is a social security plan. it's not one we know, but speaker gingrich and president clinton agreed on reform plan in 198 # which would have done what everybody knows has to be done. raise edge of eligibility and do some means testing. unfortunately, this was late 19 # 7. before it could have been formalized and announced, monica lewinsky stepped on scene an changed everything. there are things that can be done. proposed on bipartisan basis. and obama has been no help. >> bret: mara, specifically, this report today says social security disability trust fund, 11 million americans tap in to that will run

social security's is at 6.7% of taxable payroll. that's a term of art, but basically that's the program's tax base in worker wages. that's a 0.44 worsening relative to last year. the projected depletion date of the combined trust funds is now anticipated to be 2033. that's been moved up from 2036. so we've lost some ground not only because of passage of time and legislative action but it's weaker than prooeftsly projected. the 2033 date is the earliest projected by the trustees in more than a decade of trustees reports. given the magnitude it's actually not. our window for dealing with it without actually disruptive consequences is closing rapidly. in 2033 as has been said we would have enough revenue coming in to pay 5% of scheduled benefits or the payroll tax would have to be raised from 12.4% to 16.7%. now that 25% benefit reduction one must bear in mind assumes we would be willing to cut benefits for people on the rolls. when you factor into account the shared desire on the part of many policymakers to shield people already rece

it calls for social security reform that ensures the 75-year solvency of social security, and it calls for social security savings to be used only to extend the program's solvency, not for deficit reduction. finally, it includes fundamental tax reform, tax reform that will make the tax code simpler, fairer and more efficient while raising revenue. here is the deficit trajectory under the plan. as i noted, it brings the deficit down to 1.4% of gdp by the end of the decade, well below the 3% level, which is this here, which most economists say is critically important to do. over the ten years of the plan, spending averages 21.8% of gdp which is below the level we experienced during the reagan administration. let me say that again. over the ten years of the plan, spending averages 21.8% of gdp which is below the level we experienced during the reagan administration. it brings discretionary spending, those funds appropriated by congress each year, down from 8.4% of gdp in 2012 to an historic low of 4.8% by 2022. like the original fiscal commission plan, it does not reopen the health care r

it calls for social security reform that ensures the 75-year solvency of social security, and it calls for social security savings to be used only to extend the program's solvency, not for deficit reduction. finally, it includes fundamental tax reform, tax reform that will make the tax code simpler, fairer and more efficient while raising additional revenue. the next chart shows the deficit trajectory under the plan as i noted. it brings the deficit down to 1.4% of gdp by the end of the decade, well below the 3% level that is viewed as sustainable. it stabilizes the debt, as i indicated, by 2015 and begins to bring it down steadily after that. over the ten years of the plan, spending averages 21.8% of gdp, which is actually below the level that we experienced during the reagan administration. the plan brings discretionary spending, those funds appropriated by congress each year, down from 8.4% of gdp in 2012 to an historic low of 4.8% by 2022. and i think we all acknowledge that health care spending is the 800-pound gorilla. although health care reform law adopted in 2010 made progress

why more people are claiming or plan for social security benefits. so let me address that from the context of the projection that we make, our board of trustees and the administration, working with our advisory board and their technical panel and others in developing assumptions and projections to the future of what the cause of social security, the retirement system and the disability system will be looking like in the future. first of all, let me flip to a slide, got to have a picture. there are two ways i think that we could really address this question of why we have this run up in claims and people applying for disability. one of the near term cyclical phenomenon which relates to the fact that we've had a recent pretty significant recession in this country, as you all know. the recession resulted in a lot of people becoming unemployed. we went up to 10% unemployment rate, and when people become unemployed basic way to continue having income. people who qualify for disabled for school and apply. so we did have an increase in a number of applicati

social security and medicare are the twin pillars of retirement security.dent obama has said in expressions of the fact we are one nation. these programs which are rooted in a basic american sense of fairness and responsibility have been supported by both political parties in democratic and republican administrations. i will turn the floor over to my colleague and fellow trustee kathleen sebelius. >> thank you, secretary geithner. today's trustee report confirms medicare is in a stronger position than it was a few years ago thanks to the affordable care act. without the health care law, hospital insurance trust fund would be exhausted in 2016 for years from now. as a result of a lot we have added another eight years to its life, putting medicare on much more solid ground. the law does this through a range of reforms from cracking down on fraud to helping providers prevent costly medical errors, reducing excess payments to medicare advantage plans. as a report our department released today shows, the first wave our reforms will save more than $200 billion by

and it would hurt the rest of social security. the trustees responsible for social security have downshifted their outlook for wages and tax revenues. that's why they are now predicting social security's biggest deficit since 1983. >> congress must begin the process of deciding what levels of benefits and taxation best serve the interests of younger americans who are increasingly uncertain whether they can count on social security. >> reporter: but if congress acts, the obama administration wants a balanced approach. >> we will not support proposals that sow the seeds of their destruction in the name of reform or that shift the cost of health care to seniors in order to sustain tax cuts for the most fortunate americans. >> reporter: the romney campaign concentrated its fire on medicare, saying today's reports show the president has no real reform plan. medicare's finances changed little over the last year. but, that's in part because the trustees assume congress will make dramatic cuts in payments to doctors. if congress blinks, a

projections are out for medicare and social security. fox's ed henry explains what it means for you and the presidential election. >> reporter: with the votes of senior citizens on the line in november, president obama got some sobering news from the trustees of social security and medicare. the sour economy and soaring energy prices are hitting social security's finances hard. its disability trust fund will run dry in 2016, two years sooner than expected. that shortfall will be covered by social security's separate retirement trust fund for a while though both will now be depleted by 2033. >> it will put these programs on a sounder financial footing for the future. >> reporter: mitt romney is making the case the president has had over three years to build that consensus. >> when they had a soup anterior majority in the house and the senate and the white house, what did they do about social security and made care? >> reporter: on medicare, top administration officials touted better news, sort of. the trustees found medicare is going brok

created social security. it works great.e don't have starving citizens. >> that's part of why they hate it. the other part is that's why they want to include social security in the deficit discussions even though it doesn't belong in there, even though it's an insurance program we paid for our whole lives. >> yeah. >> i think it's because if you include in the larger deficit well, then, i can take the $2.6 trillion surplus that social security has as give it in the form of tax cuts more wars more deregulation, et cetera. what do you think? >> i think that's exactly right. look, we disagree with them but they are really smart about how they approach these things. the other thing that we see goodwith the think tanks, they are in it for the long haul. they don't have attention deficit disorder like many of our friends and colleagues do, one idea one day, another the next day. they stay with it and they stay with it and they hammer at this ridiculous idea that it's bankrupt and you should retire later in life and suddenly you se

today we have heard about the long-term financial future of social security and medicare. these programs serve as a critical lifeline for millions of americans, especially those experiencing these tough economic times. today close to 54 million americans received scorblee security benefits including 38 million retirees, 10 million americans with disabilities and six million survivors of deceased workers. social security serves as a critical kole role in combating north this country. if social security payments were excluded from income, the number of older people in poverty would increase by almost 14 million individuals. however challenges remain for social security and medicare and thus the retirement security of many americans who depend on the benefits they provide. geithner and sebelius have addressed these challenges. we know costs for both programs are continuing to increase due to the continued retirement by the baby boom generation and lower birthrates for younger generations. people are also living longer and the cost for health care per beneficiary continues to r

that is the usual for social security reports. but it is the reality that there could be problems are growing somewhat more serious. insolvency is drawing closer. even accounting for all the sources of income, including funds from recently, the trust fund is lower than projected to further decline. the shortfalls ahead are much larger now than can be readily corrected at the last minute as we have done in 1983. bipartisan action needs to be responsible, decisive, and prompt. thank you. >> good afternoon. being the last of the six trustees to speak, i will be very brief. the primary responsibility of the public trustees is to assure the american public that the financial and actuarial analysis contained in the trustees reports are as objective as possible. but they use the best available data and information, and they employ the most appropriate methodologies. i think i can speak for all as well as myself, that we can provide that assurance with confidence to the american public. once again, we have participated in an open robust a

kron 4's dan kerman talked to an expert for what this means. >> reporter: if social security runs out2033 it could only pay partial benefits. >> if nothing is done, all beneficialries will have to take a 25% cut in benefits. >> reporter: he says while changes will likely be made to keep social security afloat, he believes it will have little impact on those currently on social security but impacts on those 20-50. >> people are contemplating retirement, the program will be less generous than now. they will have to raise their retirement age. it will be less generous. for the young people like students, 20 year olds, it will be drastically different than now. they will have to wait till 70 to retire. >> reporter: he says in addition to raising the retirement age and paying lower benefits, it is likely social security could be based on your needs. >> high income people will get less social security than they do now. you could protect the poor and you should. and you can protect the lore middle class. -- lower middle class. >> reporter: experts don't expect any changes till after the pres

what is social security overall? is around $500 billion total. >> give us a brief history of and highly qualified? for originally it is treated as a way to bridge americans who aren't able to work anymore. subtly for folks in their fifties. it has changed over the years. people can get on social security for mental and physical illness. he must have been working for a certain amount of time and paid into the system. you have to qualify for social security and go through this long process of people applying at the state and federal level. host: we have the time to do this. guest: people with health problems, medicare is one of the biggest benefits. people can qualify if their on disability if they are under 30 and 40. host: talk a little bit about projections. guest: it has the shortest use of any of these trust funds. they project it will exhaust their reserves by 2016. that is only in four years. host: we're going to get into some of those changes. we want to hear from you if you have questions for damian paletta. y

so let me flip to what we refer to as sort of our first cost of social security disability. and beyond those demographic factors, just the ages of the baby boom and being replaced by smaller generations coming from behind. the first one of these drivers is just being insured. being a person of an age to steve disability benefits isn't enough to get benefits. you have to be insured and there are certain work requirements. the percentage of the population male and female has been rather constant for men up around 75%. we project that into the foout. over the last 25 to 30 years the percentage of women has rhode island inquite dramatic alally. the reason is certain work requirements and there's a recent see requirement you have to work essentially five out of the last ten years. in the past women when they got into 40s and 50s many of them did not satisfy that work requirement. we have moved over the last 25 years to a point where women are at parity with men in terms of satisfyi satisfying. that is project into the future. the other real driver of disability costs is that give

and mary daley have been proponents of doing experience rating with the disability share of the social security-- of the trust -- i'm sorry, of the payroll taxes which, you know, most other social insurances are experience rated. not medicare, but certainly unemployment insurance and worker's compensation. we've talked more about more fundamental reforms, and i think there are a lot of people that would say those early intervention approaches, they are interesting and probably should be looked at more, but they're not going to be enough to really reverse the trends that we see historically for the well being of people with disabilities. so david mann and i have looked at some of these. addressing work disincentives more comprehensively, one idea is to replace the inability to work criterion for social security benefits with a work capacity approach to determining eligibility. so you work at the work capacity of the individual first, and it's only when it's clear that you can't tap into that capacity, help the person be more self-sufficient, that you give them the long-term benefits. the idea of

mary daly and rich burkehouser had experience with the disability share of the social security trust -- payroll taxes which most other social insurances, not medicare but certainly unemployment insurance and workers' compensation. we talked more about more fundamental reforms. lot of people would say early intervention approaches are interesting and probably should be looked at more but won't be enough to reverse the trends that we see historically for the well-being of disabilities. david man and i have looked at these, more comprehensively. one idea is to replace the inability to work criteria for social security benefits with their work capacity approach to determine eligibility and only when you help this person be more self-sufficient that you give long-term benefits. the idea of changing the compensation principle from wage replacement to extra cost of disability is one that has some places about ready. we have never done that in the united states but interesting idea. there is a lot of interest from the general accountability office and we picked up on this, integrating or cons

social security is very different. there is a strong sense that people paid into social security so more people are protective of it. yes, it is probably politically a more vulnerable program in an era of budget constraints than social security. host: the last question. have you done an analysis of what the costi structure will be to the law? guest: basically what they find if they strike down the mandate, that would improve the federal financial outcome by about $282 billion over the next 10 years. he would have fewer people on medicaid, fewer -- you would have fewer people on medicaid. striking down the mandate would cause problems in the private market because you have all these other mandates in the law. insurance premiums would go up by 15%. it would ameliorate some of the damage of the law from the federal perspective. striking down that alone would cause a host of problems to the consumer. the best outcome would be if the law in its entirety would be struck down. host: charles blahous is one of two public truste

guest: i think what james might have been talking about, social security disability, the program you pay for out of your pay check each month, i do not believe -- if you are disabled in qualified for the benefits of you would get the benefits. supplemental security income, i believe there is some sort of test or if you have a lot of financial resources, you may not qualify because you are not qualified as poor and needy. that could be a situation for some people. it sounds like a complicated legal issue with lawyers might be best able to navigate such a problem. host: we talk about judge shopping. are there allegations into doctor shopping? guest: i do not know if there are allegations, but i have heard stories about people going to doctors. i did a story last march about a situation in puerto rico and why so many people were having their benefits approved. i do know the security administration inspector general is looking into dr. shopping in puerto rico. that is something that is a potential area of vulnerability into the program. host: kathleen on the republican line in indiana. ca

you call social security, give a social security number of the person applying. they tell you whether it is a legitimate number for somebody that age to be applying for a job. employers are fine, then these people would not be working. there would be no reason for them to be here. host: daniel stein? guest: we agree with you on everything you say. we have been trying to convince congress for 30 years that this is a system that is to be in place. states are mandating that employers use the everify system. i am not here to draw comparisons between what the president has done and what president bush has done. my point was that president bush and accelerated enforcement. many aliens went into deportation proceedings but they were not deported until president obama took over, so he is getting credit for that. the reality, the department of homeland security issued a memo, the morton memo, that lays out classifications of aliens who will not be enforcement priorities, including virtually every illegal alien who has not committed a serious felony or is a terror threat.

we should talk about how he expand and strengthen social security and retirement security.s was an elite report. the elite believes you need to deal with social security as a crisis when in fact millions want this government to deal with jobs and the economy -- >> i don't fault the report. what i fault is the take away from it where the media starts screaming crisis whereas you point south the answers are easy and fair. lift the cap. social security is critical and easy to fix, and we should remove it from that fear mongering that drives the massive argument on the other side to cut the taxes and squeeze the anti-poverty program -- >> but you'll hear about it in this campaign in fear-mongering magazine" and author of a powerful opinion piece in today's "washington post," a vote for universal registration, as always wonderful to have you here on this program. >> thank you. >> not so slick, the first charges brought in the if you have an opinion, you better back it up. >>eliot spitzer takes on politics. >>science and republicans do not mix. >>now it's your turn at the only on

i assume everybody in that room knows that social security is a broad -- the social security disability program serves almost 9 million people and another couple million who are dependent of those workers. it is a big program that serves a lot of people. what i can really speak to, probably most affected with commendable easily, is the first of the deed of questions that are raised today. why more people are climbing are applying for social security benefits. let me address that in the context of the projections that we have made it working for or board of trustees at -- in the administration and you're working with our revisory board and their technical panel and developing assumptions in projections into the future of what the cost of social security, the retirement system, and its ability system, will be looking like. -- in the disability system will be looking like. there are two boys we can address the question of having the runoff in claims and people applying for disability. the first relates to the fact that we have had a recent pretty significant recession. as you all know. the

but they talk about high social security is going bankrupt -- how social security is going bankrupt andicaid will fall out from under it. yet our government lets these people that are 18 years old up to 35, 40 years old have never had a job in their life and they are getting their s.s.i., they never paid taxes, yet they can go to a doctor and say that they can't work, they are bipolar, and they get their disability, and yet we have people in the country that are 55, 60 years old that are disabled and can't get anything. but yet all our money is going -- paying these people that has never really worked. and never paid into the system. yet it just -- these numbers just grow on a daily basis. guest: our social security system is set up to provide benefits to people who are disabled for various reasons. that's the way it's been established. so it is true that if you have a disability you can qualify for social security even if you haven't worked. often the reason why you haven't worked is because you have a disability. host: the trustees report also dealing with social security what, did th

we have been talking about social security for so long. no one is surprised that at this point money is running out. it is a surprise that there is no action in washington. >> experts told me today that they have seen three administrations do nothing. >> in social security runs out of money, it could only pay partial benefits. >> is nothing is done, so security benefits including boats currently receiving social security will have to take a 25 percent cut in benefits. >> changes will likely be made to keep social security afloat that he believes the changes will have little impact on those currently on the social security but will have significant impacts on those who are younger, ages 20-50. >> i think people who are contemplating retirement, the program is going to be less generous than it is now. they will have to raise the retirement age and change the way the index for inflation. it will be less generous. for the young people, it is going to be drastically different than now. >> it is almost inevitable that high income people will get

why is this social security funding drying up faster than expected? of the ripple effects of this prolonged economic recession. trustees for medicare and social security said not only is the economy not growing, hourly wages are falling and the hours worked by workers are also falling which means there are less taxable income to go into the social security system to fund future benefit payouts. when you have fewer hours, there's less tax revenue coming in which means solvency becomes an issue sooner. you talked about 2033. just so the audience understands, if congress does nothing about the current benefit and taxation structure for social security and that trust fund expires in 2033, instantly social security beneficiaries will see a 25% benefit cut. i don't mean over time. i mean instantly. on the disability side disability trust funds will expire not in 2033, 2016 and those beneficiaries will see a 20% cut unless congress does something very soon. >> a lot of people now are watching and listening saying oh, my goodness, what is the solution? is the

this is the key difference between social security in its current form and a personal social security savings account. today -- if you pay all your life and you die a week before you are eligible for benefits, everything you paid goes to the government. you have no estate. in the personal social security savings account mano -- model, the money is yours. that means, if something happens to you, it belongs to your family. you have actually created and the state. in fact, the power of the system is such that the estimate is that at the end of the next generation, we would have eliminated 50% of the wealth inequality because every single worker who took the personal social security savings account would be a safer and an investor. we would have raised the bottom automatically by having that many more people have saved money that would be building up interest their whole life. furthermore, if you build up -- remember, $16 trillion between 1983 and today -- if you build up that kind of money in savings, what happens is, you increase the growth of the economy because you now have all this c

the social security number just seems like an easy thing for me. not sending it to a prison would seem like an easy thing as well as making sure that they attended the classes or at least attended a college. so perhaps maybe a valid school ein number would also help to make sure that when those credits are being processed, that you have all the information to verify that truly they qualify for those. can you help me out with that? >> thanks for bringing it up. i appreciate the offer for help. we can always use help. a couple of things, one is we've significantly stepped up our effort to crack down on fraud. last year we stopped $14 billion in potentially either fraudulent or mistaken credits from going out the door. the specific report that you reference, i just want to point out a couple of things. there was an inspector general report a couple years earlier that showed that there was huge error rate on the 1099 -- 1098s which are the education reports we get. while that report said there could have been that level of fraud, there's also a recogni

experience rating with a disability share of the social security, i'm sorry, the payroll taxes, whichperienced, not medicare but certainly unemployment insurance and workers compensation. we have talked more about the more fundamental reforms, and i think there a lot of people that would say those early intervention approaches are addressing and probably should be looked at more, but they are not going to be enough to reverse the trends that we see historically for the well-being of people with disabilities so david mann and i have looked at some of these, dressing work incentives for comprehensively. the work capacity approach that would determine eligibility so you look at the work capacity of individual first and it's only when it's clear that you cannot tap into that capacity that you give them the long-term benefit. call-in. .. we've also will take a look at this and we want, we think it's important to consider other options involving the states. it just seems incredibly important, local people are going to be delivering services to people with disabilities, you give them some fl

we are seeing even low-tech things like social security numbers that are vulnerable with no recourse until something horrible happens. some of these things where something private like that is made public erroneously or negligently or maliciously, you know, we should have a privacy right in our social security numbers. .. provisions that actually could lead to some problems with people being erroneously cut off of the internet. there is a real question about what the government be better able to protect us over the internet service providers and the googles of the world and many people think that the internet service provider, comcast, verizon have more of an incentive in one of the people who actually have the technological wherewithal to do so? and so come to some of the claims that the need for a government monitoring to prevent malicious virus is that the former for airfare is less than they would say. >> is a great question because i often look at the relationship at the cia has to do the rand has been very much apparel is the relationship the cia used to have but the soviet uni

now, i would point out that the social security trust fund is 100% solvent between now and the year 2037. if congress takes no action between now andal security beneficiaries would take about a 25% reduction in their benefits. so it is a significant issue that should be addressed. the sooner we address it, the better. but i do want to make it clear that the social security trust fund as of now is solvent, projected to be solvent but the trustees 100% until that point. >> without addressing social security, though, what -- why should anyone really look at any of the budgets that are at play right now, as anything more than just political documents? >> well, unfortunately, for the purposes of this year, in other words, for action in congress through the remainder of this year, i think the parts of the budget tha potentially acted upon are really -- are the portions that deal with discretionary spending. through the appropriations committee process. and as i think a lot of people in this room now, part of the budget control act that we passed last year, which has $1 trillion over ten years

social security and medicare are the twin pillars of retirement security. they are as president obama has said in expressions of the fact we are one nation. these programs which are rooted in a basic american sense of fairness and responsibility have been supported by both political parties in democratic and republican administrations. i will turn the floor over to my colleague and fellow trustee kathleen sebelius. >> thank you, secretary geithner. today's trustee report confirms medicare is in a stronger position than it was a few years ago thanks to the affordable care act. without the health care law, hospital insurance trust fund would be exhausted in 2016 for years from now. as a result of a lot we have added another eight years to its life, putting medicare on much more solid ground. the law does this through a range of reforms from cracking down on fraud to helping providers prevent costly medical errors, reducing excess payments to medicare advantage plans. as a report our department released today shows, the first wave our reforms will save more th

the ring sold counterfeit resident alien and social security cards typically for $150 to $200 to illegal immigrants. despite senator grassley's concerns, senate judiciary committee chairman patrick leahy, a democrat, has barred a vote on mandatory e-verify. the house version may reach the floor because republicans control that chamber. >> we're looking at a system that has been tested, it works, businesses have come out in support of it, the chamber of commerce has come out in support of certain e-verify programs, the national federation of independent business. we got well over 300,000 businesses that are currently using e-verify and it works. >> mandatory e-verify certainly has critics. opponents claim legal immigrants and native born americans could lose jobs due to flaws in the system. >> 770 thousand americans could lose their jobs under a mandatory program, and we think that is unacceptable. so there are increased additional improvements that could be made in the use of databases in making sure they are more accurate. >> but supporters of mandatory e-verify say that's just not accu