Social Security Reform Act of 2016

Social Security Reform Act of 2016

This bill amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to:

• phase in (from 2023 to 2032) a new benefit formula for retired and disabled worker beneficiaries becoming eligible in 2023 and later;
• repeal the windfall elimination provision;
• raise the full retirement age;
• extend the maximum age for entitlement to delayed retirement credit;
• limit eligibility for the cost-of-living adjustment and tie increases in benefits to the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers;
• cap the nonworking spouse benefit and the child's benefit;
• lower the age requirement in or after 2019 for school attendance by child beneficiaries;
• provide a new minimum benefit for workers with more than 10 years of covered earnings;
• repeal the retirement earnings test;
• provide an option to split the delayed retirement credit to offer a lump sum benefit at initial entitlement for workers attaining age 62 in 2023 and later;
• increase after 2022 the monthly benefit of beneficiaries who have been eligible for at least 20 years;
• eliminate the seven year limitation on widow's and widower's benefits for disabled surviving spouses and the requirement that such spouses attain age 50 to be eligible for benefits; and
• waive the two-year duration of the divorce requirement for benefit eligibility in cases of remarriage to someone other than the claimant before the two-year period has elapsed.

The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to phaseout and eliminate after 2053 the tax that is credited to the Old Age, Survivors, Insurance (OASI) and Disability Income (DI) Trust Funds.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov