Today, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), member and former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, joined Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) in urging Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to provide a timely update on the status of Social Security and Medicare trust fund reports. By law, these reports are required to be issued annually by April 1 – but the reports have rarely been distributed on time in recent years, with the 2021 report not delivered until August 31.
“The 2021 trustees report was released 152 days late, with little-to-no information provided to the public and to Congress explaining the reasons for, and the expected duration of, the delay,” the lawmakers wrote. “[I]t is imperative that policymakers have accurate and timely information regarding the financial operations of these critical safety-net programs.”
While the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has made recommendations to the Treasury Department on process improvements in recent years, the recommendations have not been fully incorporated into the process for developing the trust fund reports. As managing trustee of the trust funds, the lawmakers reiterate it is the responsibility of the Treasury Secretary to provide these reports to Congress in a timely manner – as required by law – or provide Congress and the American people with explanations for late work.
“We respectfully request that you, as Managing Trustee, commit to developing better policies, more in line with GAO’s recommendations, to keep the congressional committees of jurisdiction and the public regularly informed of the anticipated report delivery dates when trustees anticipate missing the statutory deadline of April 1. Doing so will ensure that the management of these important programs will remain accountable to the American people,” the lawmakers concluded.
Grassley pointed out in April of 2020 that the Trustees did not reflect the potential effects that the COVID-19 pandemic could have on Social Security and Medicare.
Original source can be found here
