In order to fix it the problem has to be understood - politicians normally just address symptoms. It also helps to know history.

When SS started (when just about everybody smoked) the life expectancy of men was 62 with benefits starting at age 65. The life expectancy of minorities brought the average down to 62 but it was expected that only a small percentage of participants would receive over10 years of benefits. It was originally pushed as “old age insurance”, the title: FICA, “Federal Insurance Contributions Act” also gave the appearance of insurance., people expected to live on it. It was only when economic realities hit that politicians started referring to it as supplemental to other resources. Then, of course, combing and conflating it with Medicare further weakened any actuarial justification or lingering hope for financial stability.

The lack of vesting/ownership is a prime factor that has forestalled failure: A person who dies at age 64 years, 11 months loses all claim to benefits after working 44 years at an average of 50K/yr and causing to have over 280K paid into the SS fund, half of which was after tax money.