2021 OASDI Trustees Report

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H. ANALYSIS OF BENEFIT PAYMENTS FROM THE OASI
TRUST FUND WITH RESPECT TO DISABLED BENEFICIARIES
(Required by section 201(c) of the Social Security Act)
Effective January 1957, the OASI Trust Fund pays monthly benefits to disabled children aged 18 and over of retired and deceased workers if the disability began before age 18. The age by which disability must have begun was later changed to age 22. Effective February 1968, the OASI Trust Fund pays reduced monthly benefits to disabled widows and widowers at ages 50 and over. Effective January 1991, the requirements for the disability of the widow or widower were made less restrictive.
At the end of 2020, the OASI Trust Fund was providing monthly benefit payments to about 1,147,000 people because of their disabilities or the disabilities of children. This total includes approximately 23,000 mothers and fathers (wives or husbands under normal retirement age of retired-worker beneficiaries and widows or widowers of deceased insured workers) who met all other qualifying requirements and were receiving unreduced benefits solely because they had disabled-child beneficiaries (or disabled children aged 16 or 17) in their care. In calendar year 2020, the OASI Trust Fund paid a total of $12,351 million to the people described above. Table VI.H1 shows OASI scheduled benefits for disability for selected calendar years during 1960 through 2020 and estimates for 2021 through 2030 based on the intermediate set of assumptions.
Amount of scheduled benefitsa b
Children  c
Widows-
widowers  d
Widows-
widowers  e

a
Beginning in 1966, includes payments for vocational rehabilitation services.

b
Amounts for 2020 and 2021 are adjusted to include in 2021 operations those benefit payments regularly scheduled in the law to be paid on January 3, 2021, which were actually paid on December 31, 2020 as required by the statutory provision for early benefit payments when the normal delivery date is on a weekend or holiday. Such shifts in payments across calendar years have occurred in the past, including in 2016, and will occur periodically in the future whenever January 3rd falls on a Sunday. In order to provide a consistent perspective on trust fund operations over time, all trust fund operations in each year reflect the 12 months of benefits that are regularly scheduled for payment in that year.

c
Also includes certain mothers and fathers (see text).

d
In 1984 and later years, includes only disabled widows and widowers aged 50-59, because disabled widows and widowers age 60 and older are eligible for the same benefit as a nondisabled aged widow or widower. Therefore, they are not receiving benefits solely because of a disability.

e
In 1983 and prior years, includes the offsetting effect of lower benefits payable to disabled widows and widowers who continued to receive benefits after attaining age 60 (62, for disabled widowers prior to 1973), compared to the higher nondisabled widow’s and widower’s benefits that would otherwise be payable. In 1984 and later years, includes only scheduled benefits to disabled widows and widowers aged 50-59 (see footnote d).

Note: Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.
Under the intermediate assumptions, estimated total scheduled benefits paid from the OASI Trust Fund with respect to disabled beneficiaries will increase from $12,769 million in calendar year 2021 to $19,124 million in calendar year 2030.
In calendar year 2020, benefit payments (including payments for vocational rehabilitation services) with respect to disabled persons from the OASI Trust Fund and from the DI Trust Fund (including payments from the DI fund to all children and spouses of disabled-worker beneficiaries) totaled $155,933 million. Of this amount, $12,351 million, or 7.9 percent, represented payments from the OASI Trust Fund. Table VI.H2 contains these and similar figures for selected calendar years during 1960 through 2020 and estimates for calendar years 2021 through 2030.
Table VI.H2.—Scheduled Benefit Paymentsa Under the OASDI Program
With Respect to Disabled Beneficiaries 
Total b
DI Trust Fund  c
Amount  d

a
Amounts for 2020 and 2021 are adjusted to include in 2021 operations those benefit payments regularly scheduled in the law to be paid on January 3, 2021, which were actually paid on December 31, 2020 as required by the statutory provision for early benefit payments when the normal delivery date is on a weekend or holiday. Such shifts in payments across calendar years have occurred in the past, including in 2016, and will occur periodically in the future whenever January 3rd falls on a Sunday. In order to provide a consistent perspective on trust fund operations over time, all trust fund operations in each year reflect the 12 months of benefits that are regularly scheduled for payment in that year.

b
Beginning in 1966, includes payments for vocational rehabilitation services.

c
Scheduled benefits for disabled workers and their children and spouses.

d
Scheduled benefits for disabled children aged 18 and over, for certain mothers and fathers (see text), and for disabled widows and widowers (see footnote e, table VI.H1).

Note: Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.

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