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Wednesday, March 24, 2004Medicare will go broke by 2019 without changes, 11 years sooner than its trustees projected two years ago -- a deterioration the White House blames on rising health care costs, but that Democrats attribute to failed economic policies. The government health care program for older and disabled Americans will have to take $7.5 billion from its reserves this year to meet its expenses, government trustees said Tuesday in their annual report. ...The six trustees -- four of whom are senior Bush administration officials -- said that projected lower tax receipts devoted to the program and higher expenditures for hospital care have contributed to the growing financial problem for two years in a row. In addition, aspects of the new Medicare prescription drug law signed by President Bush in December also will drain the program's trust fund, devoted primarily to paying beneficiaries' hospital bills. ....Government officials have been predicting for years that the retirement insurance and health care funds for the elderly -- both financed through payroll taxes -- will be pushed toward insolvency as more post-World War II baby boomers reach 65. By 2078, the trustees said, the gap between revenues and spending would be $31.4 trillion for the two programs. Looking even further into the future, the trustees said the gap would be $72 trillion. Is it too late to rescind that prescription drug benefit? posted by Sydney on 3/24/2004 08:21:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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