Entitlement Reforms Should Not Be Delayed

Social Security and Medicare are important, popular programs on which millions of Americans depend. But both require significant reforms to enable them to deal with rising health costs and aging baby boomers — and still be able to serve future retirees well.

Unfortunately, the AARP — an organization that millions of older Americans rely on for retirement-related information — continues to suggest that Social Security’s financial difficulties are in the distant future and that the system has no effect on the federal deficit.

Social Security and Medicare are important, popular programs on which millions of Americans depend. But both require significant reforms to enable them to deal with rising health costs and aging baby boomers — and still be able to serve future retirees well.

Unfortunately, the AARP — an organization that millions of older Americans rely on for retirement-related information — continues to suggest that Social Security’s financial difficulties are in the distant future and that the system has no effect on the federal deficit.

Neither claim is correct, as Concord Coalition Communications Director Steve Winn pointed out in a letter published Friday in The Kansas City Star. He calls on AARP to join nonpartisan reform advocates in pursuing changes that can put entitlement programs on a sustainable track.