COVID-19 Impact: Social Insurance Responses

This report assesses the performance of pre-existing social insurance and related programs, temporary changes in those programs made in response to the pandemic, and some new federal and state policies.

The COVID-19 pandemic ultimately had negligible effects on the long-term projected financial condition of the overall program.

Contrary to expectations, the COVID-19 pandemic slightly extended the projected lifespan of the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund. Unfortunately, the reasons for this deferral of the trust fund’s depletion date were largely driven by negative health effects on beneficiaries

Families faced unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including struggling to maintain financial security and meet the basic needs of their children and other dependents. Social safety net programs responded in a variety of ways to the instability caused by the pandemic – some of which proved worth considering for continuing long term, and some of which had unintended consequences.

The protests sweeping the United States (and cities around the world) over the past couple of weeks reflect not just rightful outrage over the heinous murders of George Floyd and others.

In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, three bills were signed into law in the U.S in March 2020, to improve access to testing and care for vulnerable patients, address medical supply shortages, and support the health care workforce and system as a whole.

States’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to workers’ compensation policy will likely prove an important factor in providing critical support to workers while protecting employers from liability.

The U.S. workers’ compensation system in its current form is complex, opaque and fragmented. Unlike other social insurance programs, it is wholly administered at the state level, and there is neither federal oversight nor any federal mandate that sets out minimum standards.

States’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to workers’ compensation policy will likely prove an important factor in providing critical support to workers while protecting employers from liability.

The U.S. workers’ compensation system in its current form is complex, opaque and fragmented. Unlike other social insurance programs, it is wholly administered at the state level, and there is neither federal oversight nor any federal mandate that sets out minimum standards.

States’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to workers’ compensation policy will likely prove an important factor in providing critical support to workers while protecting employers from liability.

The U.S. workers’ compensation system in its current form is complex, opaque and fragmented. Unlike other social insurance programs, it is wholly administered at the state level, and there is neither federal oversight nor any federal mandate that sets out minimum standards.

The protests sweeping the United States (and cities around the world) over the past couple of weeks reflect not just rightful outrage over the heinous murders of George Floyd and others.

The U.S. workers’ compensation system in its current form is complex, opaque and fragmented. Unlike other social insurance programs, it is wholly administered at the state level, and there is neither federal oversight nor any federal mandate that sets out minimum standards.

The U.S. workers’ compensation system in its current form is complex, opaque and fragmented. Unlike other social insurance programs, it is wholly administered at the state level, and there is neither federal oversight nor any federal mandate that sets out minimum standards.

This fact sheet summarizes the temporary paid leave provisions enacted by Congress in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes: background on paid leave in the U.S., provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and provisions in the CARES Act, followed by a brief discussion of the impact on workers and their families.

This fact sheet describes the urgency of updating Supplemental Security Income (SSI) after decades of federal neglect, especially as policymakers work to “build back better” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes policy options for ensuring that seniors and people with disabilities are able to access basic economic stability and live with dignity.

Many Americans had reason to be concerned about their retirement prospects long before 2020. For decades, the racial wealth gap between Whites and African-Americans has increased, while the gap between Whites and Latinos has not diminished. Workers of color and low-income workers have long had less stable jobs, which provided fewer supports and exposed them to higher risks.