Proposed Provision: B5.8. Beginning in 2021, 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 Present Law Provision
2016303303
2017293293
2018277277
2019262262
2020246246
2021231229
2022216213
2023200196
2024183178
2025165161
2026149143
2027132126
2028115108
20299890
20308172
20316454
20324635
20332716
20348-4
2035-11-24
2036-30-44
2037-50-65
2038-71-87
2039-91-108
2040-112-130
2041-133-152
2042-154-175
2043-176-197
2044-197-220
2045-218-242
2046-240-265
2047-262-288
2048-283-311
2049-305-334
2050-327-357
2051-349-380
2052-371-403
2053-393-427
2054-415-450
2055-437-473
2056-460-497
2057-482-521
2058-506-546
2059-529-571
2060-553-596
2061-578-622
2062-603-648
2063-628-675
2064-654-702
2065-680-730
2066-706-758
2067-733-786
2068-760-815
2069-788-844
2070-816-874
2071-845-904
2072-874-935
2073-905-967
2074-935-999
2075-967-1032
2076-1000-1067
2077-1033-1102
2078-1068-1138
2079-1102-1175
2080-1138-1212
2081-1173-1249
2082-1208-1286
2083-1243-1323
2084-1279-1360
2085-1314-1397
2086-1349-1434
2087-1384-1471
2088-1419-1508
2089-1455-1545
2090-1491-1583
2091-1528-1622
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