Proposed Provision: B5.8. Beginning in 2024, create a Basic Minimum Benefit (BMB) within Social Security (i.e., the cost of the BMB would be charged as a cost to the OASI Trust Fund), with the following specifications: (1) Eligibility for the BMB would be limited to OASI beneficiaries who have attained normal retirement age (NRA) or above. OASI beneficiaries under NRA would not be eligible for the BMB. (2) The BMB would be calculated on a household basis and split equally between members of the household. In the case of a married couple, both spouses would need to claim any Social Security benefits for which they are eligible before they could receive the BMB. If both spouses have claimed and one is NRA or above and the other has not yet attained NRA, only the half of the BMB for the spouse over NRA would be payable. (3) The BMB amount for single beneficiaries would be equal to either: 1) the BMB base ($604 in 2015) - 0.70 * current monthly OASI benefit (not including any BMB), if positive; or 2) zero. (4) The BMB amount for married beneficiaries would be equal to either: 1) the BMB base ($906 in 2015) - 0.70 * total household monthly OASI benefits (not including any BMB), if positive; or 2) zero. (5) The BMB bases for singles and couples would be updated annually for changes in the average wage index (AWI). (6) Single filers with Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) over $30,000 and joint filers with AGI (including taxable SS benefits) over $45,000 would be subject to clawback of the BMB through the income tax system. Any BMB would be reduced by one dollar for every dollar of income above the thresholds. (Thresholds, in 2015 dollars, would be indexed to chained CPI-U.) Clawbacks would be credited back to the OASI Trust Fund.

OASDI Trust Fund Ratio
(assets as a percentage of annual expenditures)

Year Current Law Provision
2019273273
2020260260
2021245245
2022229229
2023213213
2024197195
2025180178
2026163160
2027147143
2028130126
2029114108
20309791
20318074
20326356
20334637
20342819
2035100
2036-9-20
2037-28-40
2038-47-60
2039-67-81
2040-87-102
2041-108-124
2042-129-146
2043-150-168
2044-171-190
2045-192-212
2046-213-234
2047-234-256
2048-255-278
2049-276-300
2050-297-322
2051-318-344
2052-338-366
2053-359-389
2054-380-411
2055-401-433
2056-422-455
2057-444-478
2058-465-500
2059-487-523
2060-509-546
2061-531-570
2062-554-594
2063-577-619
2064-601-644
2065-625-669
2066-649-695
2067-674-720
2068-699-747
2069-724-773
2070-749-800
2071-776-828
2072-802-856
2073-830-884
2074-857-913
2075-885-943
2076-914-974
2077-944-1005
2078-975-1037
2079-1007-1071
2080-1039-1105
2081-1072-1139
2082-1106-1174
2083-1139-1210
2084-1173-1245
2085-1207-1281
2086-1242-1317
2087-1275-1353
2088-1309-1388
2089-1342-1423
2090-1375-1458
2091-1407-1491
2092-1439-1525
2093-1471-1558
2094-1503-1592
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