Propping up Disability Insurance coverage with Social Security bankrupts both

ANALYSIS/OPINION:
A single year in the past Congress made a decision to prop up the Disability Insurance coverage (DI) program by siphoning off about $150 billion from Social Security’s retirement fund. But considering the fact that Social Security’s retirement plan is all the more broke than its DI plan, continued income transfers usually are not a long-run answer.
When Congress passed the short-term DI “fix,” lawmakers knew they'd must do additional - considerably more - to generate the plan solvent above the prolonged run.

But twelve months later, it is been almost nothing but radio silence from Congress on DI reform. Not that this ought to be surprising. Politicians notoriously use crises to reduce specials, promising they may undertake severe and thoughtful action later on. Then they sit back and wait till the next crisis.
That is specifically what took place in 1994 just after Congress used Social Security’s retirement system to shore up the DI plan. The Social Safety trustees warned Congress that it wanted to reform the DI program or it will run from money again in 2016. Reform didn't occur, and also the DI plan prevented operating out of funds in 2016 by poaching