A budget proposal published by Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives calls for the raising of the full Social Security claiming age from 67 to 70.
The proposal is part of the “Blueprint to Save America,” a proposed federal government budget framework put together by the Republican Study Committee. As noted on the group’s website, nearly 75% of current House Republicans are members of the Republican Study Committee.
Raising the retirement age to at least 70 is one of several proposals to cut federal government benefits. Other provisions address programs such as Medicare and federal disability insurance.
Page 81 of the budget proposal offers details about a bill called the Social Security Reform Act. The legislation would trigger a gradual but steady increase of the normal retirement age. Specifically, under the proposal, the full retirement age would climb “at a rate of three months per year until it is increased by three years for those reaching age 62 in 2040.”
Since the current normal retirement age is 67, raising it by three years will increase it to 70.
Later on the same page, the document says that, following completion of the incremental adjustments proposed by the Social Security Reform Act, the RSC budget would link the normal retirement ages to the life expectancy of retirees. This would mean raising the retirement age even higher than 70 if life expectancy increases.
In the preamble section of the budget proposal, Reps. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Kevin Hern, R-Okla., say the RSC framework represents “a balanced budget that will slash federal debt, rein in inflation, promote economic growth and raise wages.”
In response to the framework’s publication, Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said raising the full retirement age represents “a benefit cut, plain and simple.”
“Many workers, especially those in physically demanding jobs, simply cannot work up to age 70,” Richtman said. “Job discrimination against older workers also prevents many people from working into their late 60s. The full retirement age has already been raised from 65 to 67. Republicans’ favorite solutions for Social Security’s financing challenges demand that beneficiaries themselves bear the burden.”