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By Suzanne Blake
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Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano said eliminating fraud, waste and abuse is the "first solution" for protecting the Social Security program as it approaches its impending financial cliff.
Bisignano said the Social Security Administration has been working to clean up its records and improve its technology and operations. He added that those efforts were an initial step toward preserving Social Security.
"The president has been very, very clear. Protect and preserve. The first steps of protecting was to get the operations to work right. Any good business fixes its technology, fixes its operations, fixes its books and records, and that's what's been going on," Bisignano said during an appearance on Big Money in the Morning on Fox Business.
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His comments arrive as Social Security faces a looming financing crunch. The 2026 Social Security Trustees Report said the trust fund responsible for retirement and survivor benefits is projected to exhaust its reserves in the fourth quarter of 2032. If Congress takes no action before then, the ongoing income would be enough to cover only 78 percent of scheduled benefits.
"He (Bisignano) is correct that eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse should be a priority, as every dollar improperly paid equals money that could otherwise support the program," Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek.
Beene said that these efforts alone will not resolve Social Security’s financial challenges, however.
"While improving record keeping, preventing fraudulent payments, and modernizing outdated technology can save taxpayers money and strengthen public confidence, Social Security’s financial difficulties are primarily driven by an aging population, longer retirements, and insufficient revenue to cover growing benefit obligations," Beene added.
Why It Matters
Social Security provides retirement, disability and survivor benefits. This makes its long-term finances a major concern for current beneficiaries as well as all the workers expecting to receive benefits in the future.
While depletion of the program's reserves would not mean Social Security disappears or stops paying benefits altogether, there would have to be major adjustments.
The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, or OASI, can pay all scheduled benefits until the fourth quarter of 2032. But, after that, the continuing program income would cover just 78 percent of scheduled benefits.
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What To Know
Bisignano said eliminating "fraud, waste and abuse" is the "first solution" to protecting Social Security while discussing the agency's efforts to improve its records and operations.
The commissioner said the agency reviewed 100 percent of the Social Security database and that roughly 15 percent were corrected.
The agency has specifically worked on incomplete or inaccurate records, including records missing dates of death and citizenship information.
The SSA separately announced on October 20 that it had corrected tens of millions of files in its Social Security Number database as part of an effort to improve the integrity of its records.
But the program's financing problem is considerably larger than an administrative records issue.
A report by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that Social Security faces a $3.8 trillion cash shortfall over the coming decade and a 75-year actuarial deficit equal to 4.42 percent of taxable payroll.
What Could Fix Social Security's Funding Problem?
Bisignano said eliminating fraud, waste and abuse is an initial solution for protecting the system. However, the trustees' figures indicate that Congress still faces the separate question of how to bring Social Security's revenue and scheduled benefits into balance. Legislative proposals currently discussed in Congress include raising the taxable wage base or modifying retirement ages.
"Eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse would amount to nothing material in the grand scheme of things. It is a distraction from the real structural issues facing Social Security and the difficult conversations needed to address the program's long-term solvency," Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek.
Social Security is funded primarily through payroll taxes, with its trust fund reserves helping cover the difference when program costs exceed incoming revenue.
Due to this, Thompson said real solutions will have to come via payroll taxes, expanding the taxation of benefits themselves or increasing the retirement age, and raising the Social Security taxable wage base, or some combination of these ideas.
"Waste, fraud, and abuse have very little impact on a trillion-dollar system," Thompson said. "Even if you eliminated all the bad actors, what may amount to a billion here or there is relatively immaterial compared to trillions in annual outlays."
What Happens Next
The deadline is now 2032 for Social Security's retirement and survivor trust fund.
Unless Congress makes changes before then, the 2026 trustees project that the OASI fund's reserves will be depleted in the fourth quarter of that year. This would leave ongoing income sufficient for only 78 percent of scheduled benefits.
"Ultimately, protecting Social Security for future generations will require Congress to consider more substantial reforms," Beene said.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and James Debens
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