Social Security and Medicare, the pillars of a federal safety net from retirement to the grave, are on unsustainable tracks.

Trustees who oversee the two largest federal programs have told Congress that long-term financial challenges should be dealt with soon to avoid disruption for millions of seniors. An increase in life expectancy and the retirement of the baby boom generation are expected to drive costs for the next 25 years. In Hawaii, more than 166,800 retirees receive Social Security and 200,300 are on Medicare, the fulfillment of a promise of guaranteed benefits and health care for those who paid payroll taxes.

For the candidates for U.S. Senate in Hawaii, preserving the entitlements is a priority, particularly for seniors about to retire, but there are pointed disagreements about the approach.

"I think the senior citizens are being scared with information about Social Security going bankrupt, and that is not the case. Even if we didn’t do anything, Social Security would continue until 2035," said U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, who faces former congressman Ed Case in the Democratic primary.

Hirono is among more than 100 lawmakers who have signed a pledge to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal interest group in Washington, D.C., to oppose cuts in benefits, an increase in the retirement age or any step toward privatization.

Hirono said she also opposes means testing, which would set an income threshold for seniors to receive benefits.

Instead, the congresswoman favors lifting the $110,100 cap on earnings subject to the payroll tax that finances Social Security, so workers with higher incomes would contribute more to the system.

She said privatizing Social Security — allowing people, for example, to privately invest some of the money they have contributed — would have been disasterous when Wall Street plunged during the recession.

"If we had privatized Social Security in 2008, when the fiscal crisis came, do you know how many seniors would be literally out on the streets?" she said.

On Medicare, she supports having the federal government negotiate for bulk purchase of prescription drugs, which the drug industry has fought, preferring to reduce drug costs through discounts and other moves.

Hirono said she is motivated by the examples of her 87-year-old mother, who lives with her in Hawaii, and her late grandmother.

"I’m going to fight to make sure that our seniors’ earned benefits are protected," she said. "And before we start cutting back on these benefits that they rely on — millions of them — there are other things that we can do."

Case said the entitlements are responsible for saving millions of lives.

"Our country before Social Security and Medicare, and after Social Security and Medicare, was two different Americas," he said. "And I don’t want to go back to the old America."

The former congressman, however, agrees with trustees who say the programs are on unsustainable paths. While they are not in danger of falling apart immediately, he said, they need adjustments because people are living longer.

"There are fewer horses pulling a heavier wagon for longer, and that’s why it’s unsustainable," he said.

He said Hirono is avoiding tough decisions, falling into a trap similar to the debate between liberals and conservatives about reducing the federal budget deficit.

"One side says it’s all revenues. One side says it’s all expenses. And I say you cannot do it on either side exclusively. You have to have a combination," he said.

Case supports lifting the earnings cap in Social Security, which he believes would make the payroll tax more progressive and relieve some of the pressure on the system.

But he also backs means testing and, eventually, raising the retirement age to qualify for benefits. Seniors can now receive early retirement benefits at 62 and full benefits at 65 or 67, depending on when they were born.

Case opposes privatization, arguing that Social Security is meant as a guaranteed source of income that should not be subject to the individual risks of private investment.

On Medicare, he would encourage competition so seniors would have more choices in health plans, bulk purchase of prescription drugs and reduction of inefficiencies. He said challenges in Medicare, which provides health insurance for seniors at 65, are far more complicated to address than Social Security because of the intersection with private insurance businesses.

"We are both committed to preserving Social Security and Medicare. How?" he asked of Hirono. "You have tough decisions to make. You can’t just say you’re going to preserve it and stop there. If you’re going to take all those options off the table, then how are you going to do it?"

Former Gov. Linda Lingle, a Republican contender for Senate, said the federal government must keep its commitment to retirees and seniors who are approaching retirement and expecting Social Security benefits, citing her 87-year-old father as inspiration.

"He needs to have the money that was promised to him," she said last week at a speech to the Kaneohe Business Group. "And as a country, as a nation, we have to be willing to live up to those committents."

But Lingle warned about politicians who make promises about entitlements.

"Politicians will stand up and tell you, ‘I’m going to protect Medicare and Social Security and there will never be any changes. We’re going to keep it just the way it is,’" she said. "When a candidate tells you that, you know a couple of things about them right away. They don’t understand the issue. They don’t understand the magnitude of the problem that we face. And they’re not willing to be honest with the people of Hawaii.

"If you hear anybody tell you everything is going to stay the same, that is not possible. Both systems would collapse if everything stayed the same."

The former governor would consider raising the retirement age for benefits based on actuarial data on life expectancy, adjusting retirement benefits for younger workers and encouraging individuals to make private retirement investments to augment Social Security.

She said such changes would require significant advance notice, especially for younger workers, who should be guided into 401(k) and similar investments so they have a cushion when they retire.

On Medicare, she suggested higher premiums for upper-income seniors and a more aggressive identification of fraud and inefficiency. She also believes medical malpractice insurance reform can reduce overall health care costs and discourage doctors from practicing defensive medicine to avoid lawsuits.

Lingle compared Congress to a couple that runs up mammoth credit card debt through a lavish lifestyle and then hands the bills over to their children.

"I don’t have to take responsibility for what went on before," she said of Congress. "But I can tell you, the situation they’ve got us into is because they’ve made promises they knew they could never keep."

John Carroll, an attorney and former state lawmaker running against Lingle in the GOP primary, blamed what he called irresponsible management by the federal government and Congress for weaknesses in Social Security and Medicaid. He said that while the federal government needs to live up to commitments on Social Security, he would transfer the administration of Medicare to the states.

"People who for years have paid into Social Security and Medicare, and are now either receiving, or about to receive benefits, are owed these programs by the federal government," the 82-year-old Republican said in a statement.