A Slash at Social Security

The beefs are loud as budget cutters attack a "sacred cow "

In crafting his delicate package of budget cuts, Ronald Reagan carefully corralled a herd of "sacred cows"—Veterans Administration disability benefits and Medicare payments for the elderly, among other programs—that he vowed not to touch. Last week, in a move that ensured debate for months to come, the President proposed to chop away at perhaps the most sacred of all cows: Social Security benefits. The plan not only ignited protests from senior citizens' groups around the nation, but finally gave the badly bruised Democrats in Congress a battle they could enthusiastically join—and perhaps stand a good chance of winning. Proclaimed House Speaker Tip O'Neill: "I will be fighting this every inch of the way, and I hope that will be the position of every member of my party."

The proposals, as unveiled by Secretary of Health and Human Services Richard S. Schweiker at a press conference, would entail little reduction in monthly payments for the 36 million Americans already on the rolls or for those who join them before Dec. 31. Administration officials nevertheless calculate that the program of adjustments could save the Treasury about $9 billion in fiscal 1982 and an accumulated total of about $46 billion by 1987. Highlights of the plan:

> Workers who choose early retirement (between the ages of 62 and 65) after 1981 would get only 55% of the benefits they would have received at age 65, rather than the 80% mandated by current law. Those who retire at 62 next year, for example, would receive an average of $126 a month less than the $372 currently collected. Benefits would also be scrapped for children of early retirees (offspring under 18, or under 22 if they are still in school, are now eligible for payments).

> The formula for calculating initial benefits for those who retire at 65 or over after 1982 would be jiggered downward over the next five years. The average worker retiring in 1987, for example, would get $719 a month under the present law, but would receive only $691.90 under Reagan's proposal.

> Beginning in 1982, the annual cost of living increase in benefits, which is based on the Consumer Price Index, would be paid out in October rather than July each year. Based on a projected inflation rate of approximately 8%, this three-month delay would save the Government about $3 billion in fiscal 1982.

> Under present law those who still work after 65 have their benefits cut by $1 for every $2 they earn over $5,500 a year. To encourage people to work longer, the Administration proposes lifting the ceiling to $10,000 in 1983, $15,000 in 1984, $20,000 in 1985 and then abolishing it completely in 1986.

> Federal and some state employees who are not covered by Social Security are now permitted to retire from their government jobs, work in positions covered by Social Security for a few years and then draw these benefits as well as their government pensions. The Administration proposes reducing Social Security benefits for these "double dippers" by taking their pensions into account.

> Disabled workers would be declared eligible for benefits only for strictly defined medical reasons; age, education and work experience would not be considered.