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The Coronavirus (known by younger millennials as the "Boomer Plague") is estimated to have a cost of life between 100,000 - 240,000 Americans. According to the CDC

approximately 80% of deaths occurred among adults aged ≥60 years

If we're to assume those numbers, 80,000 - 192,000 people over the age of 60 will die prematurely as a result of this virus, how will this effect Social Security solvency in the short-term?

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    $\begingroup$ Had you asked this on politics SE, it would have probably been quickly downvoted into oblivion as a "boomer doomer/remover" question in disguise... $\endgroup$ – Fizz Apr 1 '20 at 19:08
  • $\begingroup$ And I haven't done the number for the US, but one econ blog said about the UK: "The original, herd immunity strategy of Boris Johnson might, it has been suggested, raise deaths in the UK by 250,000 in 2020, but this needs to be set against the normal total of nearly 500,000 per annum, an increase of some 50/60% in one year. Given the age and frailty of those likely to die, this increased death toll in 2020 would have been almost entirely offset by sharply lower death tolls over the subsequent decade." $\endgroup$ – Fizz Apr 1 '20 at 19:20
  • $\begingroup$ But since most people who die are in the "frail" (>80 y.o.) group (instead of the larger 60+), I suspect that there's isn't that much saving to be had on SS from their deaths, simply because they probably don't have that much longer left to live anyway (so the cumulative payments they'd get are small). Medical (Medicare) costs might be a different matter, as end-of-life care can well exceed what gets "paid into the pocket" by SS. $\endgroup$ – Fizz Apr 1 '20 at 19:22

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