GOP cuts to Social Security budget would increase wasteful spending: actuary

Propose GOP cuts to the Social Security Administration's operating budget would actually increase wasteful spending over time, the SSA actuary said in a letter Thursday.

The cuts were included in a 2013 Labor, Health Appropriations bill crafted by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) and passed out of subcommittee this month. The budget for conducting disability reviews would be cut to $272 million under the bill from $757 million. That compares to $1.024 billion under last August's debt ceiling deal.

The nearly $800-million cut would actually increase wasteful spending by as much as $6 billion over time, Social Security Chief Actuary Stephen Goss said.

He made the estimate in response to a query from Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), who serves on the Ways and Means subcommittee that oversees Social Security.

“First they voted to end Medicare. Now they have proposed slashing almost $800 million from Social Security’s operating budget. What’s worse, the bulk of this reckless cut would shortchange Social Security’s ability to fight waste, fraud and abuse," he said in a statement.

The 2011 House-passed budget would have transformed Medicare into a system where future seniors would have to buy private insurance with government subsidies. The 2012 budget makes this optional. The GOP says this saves Medicare from collapse, while Democrats say it ends the guarantee of coverage on which seniors depend.

So far, no full committee markup has been scheduled on the Rehberg bill. It is the last of the 12 annual appropriations bills to come forward in the House.

---