AARP sounds alarm on Social Security changes

For years, public policy experts have been warning Americans about Social Security's long-term financial viability.

And for just as long, they have been suggesting possible solutions to the problem, which threatens to diminish retirees' monthly payments by 23% in the next decade, without congressional action.

"The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund will be able to pay 100 percent of total scheduled benefits until 2033," according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). "At that time, the fund's reserves will become depleted and continuing program income will be sufficient to pay 77 percent of total scheduled benefits."

Proposed changes to the Social Security program include debates about the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA), the level of monthly benefits, the retirement age and payroll tax modifications.

Related: Dave Ramsey, AARP warn Americans on Social Security

The AARP, which advocates on many issues important to Americans over 50-years-old, highlights its concerns about another proposed remedy: changing how the SSA determines eligibility for disability benefits.

At least in the short term, that proposal has reached a conclusion regarding adjustments to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) that the AARP opposes.

"The Social Security Administration has told disability advocates it is not moving forward with an overhaul," the AARP wrote on Nov. 20.

"The move followed pushback from advocacy and research groups that said the proposals thought to be under consideration could have denied benefits to hundreds of thousands of people who currently qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance and would have had an outsize impact on older Americans."

AARP calls Social Security disability benefits critical

Mark J. Warshawsky, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), led the effort to update the medical-vocational eligibility standards for obtaining disability benefits in the first Trump Administration.

"The disability programs currently rely on vocational data nearly 35 years old and on rules designed almost 50 years ago," Washawsky wrote for AEI in October.

"The old data, although granular in some respects regarding employer requirements for strength, training, and education for work in highly specific jobs, especially in manufacturing, omit entirely the mental requirements for work and many newer job categories, particularly in the service and technology sectors," he explained.

"They also fail to reflect the general trend toward less strenuous physical work across all sectors," Warshawsky added.

Regarding the news that the SSA has scrapped plans for a Social Security Disability Insurance overhaul, the AARP explained its approval of that development.

"Social Security Disability Insurance is a critical lifeline for people who find themselves no longer able to work," said AARP vice president of financial security Jenn Jones.

"We appreciate [SSA] Commissioner [Frank] Bisignano's commitment to a careful and transparent process, because any changes to SSDI can impact older Americans across the country who rely on Social Security for their independence and livelihoods."

AARP highlights age as Social Security disability factor

Earlier in 2025, the SSA signaled that it had planned to propose new disability rules with a major change reducing the weight given to age as an eligibility factor.

Jason Turkish, a lawyer and cofounder of the disability rights nonprofit Alliance for America's Promise, stated that during a Nov. 18 meeting, Bisignano informed him the SSA would not proceed with the proposed regulations, the AARP wrote.

He reportedly added that he had been given comparable assurances from other high-ranking administration officials in meetings held the previous week.

"I am deeply gratified by this outcome," Turkish wrote in a Nov. 19 email update to advocates the AARP says it has seen.

"If the SSA gave less weight to age, people 50 and older would be less likely to qualify for disability payments," the AARP wrote, citing a recent analysis by Jack Smalligan, a senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute.

AARP: Disability benefits would have decreased sharply

Smalligan's September report concluded that adopting changes similar to the earlier proposal could reduce SSDI eligibility for new applicants by up to 20% overall.The same analysis projected that SSDI eligibility could decline by as much as 30% for workers aged 50 and older.Smalligan noted that the effect on SSI eligibility, which also considers financial criteria, remained uncertain.The Urban study estimated that a 10% reduction in SSDI eligibility would mean about 750,000 fewer people receiving benefits over the next decade.Among those affected would be roughly 80,000 widowed spouses and children who rely on benefits tied to the work record of a deceased partner or parent.

"The administration's efforts could have caused serious harm to hundreds of thousands of workers with disabilities," the AARP quotes Smalligan as saying.

Related: AARP has blunt warning for Americans on Social Security

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This story was originally published November 25, 2025 at 6:13 PM.