Thursday marks the 90th anniversary of Social Security in America. In New Hampshire, more than 122,000 seniors use the federal program as their primary source of income.
But concerns about the program’s long-term solvency fuel concerns among many advocates about Social Security’s future.
Christina FitzPatrick, CEO of the New Hampshire chapter of the AARP, said without Social Security more than a third of people over the age of 65 in the state would live in poverty. With Social Security, the poverty rate for seniors is 7%.
Fitzpatrick said many of the people who rely on Social Security also receive disability benefits or are the survivors of workers who have passed away.
“This isn't a luxury,” FitzPatrick said. “It's rent. It's groceries. It’s medicine. It’s heat. Social Security is very important for people's retirement security.”
The Social Security Act of 1935 launched the income program for seniors; it also paved the way for other social benefits like Medicaid and Medicare, both of which have recently seen cuts in federal funding.
Social Security brings around $7.4 billion to New Hampshire’s economy, according to the New Hampshire chapter of AARP. It’s also facing major cuts in coming years without action by Congress.
Brendan Williams, CEO and president of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes and retirement communities in the state, noted that New Hampshire is the second oldest state in the nation and the cost of living is one of the highest in the country.
He said it’s important that Social Security be maintained as it helps keep many seniors in their homes or cover part of the cost of long term care.
“There's still ideas out there like privatizing Social Security,” Williams said. “The [U.S.] Treasury secretary sort of hinted at that and, you know, that's not going to work for a lot of people. I do think it's a vital program.”
Williams said he’s concerned about the downstream impacts cuts to Social Security and Medicaid funding can have for seniors – and for the state as a whole. Hospitals, he said, rely on the provider tax that Medicaid and Social Security income brings to the state.
“I think of long term care sort of a three-legged school,” Williams said. “You've got hospitals, you've got home care, and you've got nursing homes and if any of those legs become wobbly, you know, the whole thing can collapse.”
The AARP will be hosting three events around Social Security’s 90th anniversary in New Hampshire in Exeter, Concord and Manchester.
