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Time is wasting to stop Medicare bankruptcy |
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January 17, 2017 |
By U.S. Senator Mike Crapo
I recently wrote about the need to heed the
Social Security Trustee’s warnings and shore up
Social Security. Like the requirements for the
Social Security Trustees to annually assess the
state of the trust funds that support the Social
Security program, the Medicare Trustees are also
required by law to report to Congress on the
state of the Medicare trust funds.
In June, the Medicare Trustees reported that
Medicare’s Part A Trust Fund is expected to be
bankrupt in 2028, two years earlier than the
trustees projected the previous year. That means
that if left unfixed, the Medicare program will
be unable to assist the many seniors and
disabled who depend on it.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
report that 55.3 million people utilize Medicare
at a cost of $648 billion. As explained in the
Trustee’s report, Medicare is financed through
two trust funds.
The Hospital Insurance Trust Fund (HI), known as
Medicare Part A, assists with hospital, home
health services following hospital stays,
skilled nursing facility and hospice care
expenses. The Supplementary Medical Insurance
Trust Fund (SMI), which supports Medicare Part B
and Part D, helps cover physician, outpatient
hospital, home health, subsidized access to drug
insurance coverage, cost-sharing subsidies for
low-income enrollees and other expenses.
Medicare Part C, which enables enrollment in
private Medicare Advantage and other health
insurance plans, is supported by funds from both
HI and SMI.
The Trustees found that 46.3 million Americans
aged 65 and older and 9 million who are
disabled, receive health care through Medicare,
which is at serious risk if changes are not
implemented. The Trustee’s report included the
following concerning projections in need of
timely action:
* As in past years, HI is not adequately financed over the next 10 years;
* Expenditures will increase in future years at a faster pace than either
aggregate workers’ earnings or the economy
overall;
* Medicare spending growth, if realized, would substantially increase the
strain on the nation’s workers, the economy,
Medicare beneficiaries and the federal budget;
* HI tax income and other dedicated revenues will fall short of HI
expenditures in most future years;
* The sooner solutions are enacted, the more flexible and gradual they
can be.
While 12 years may seem like a long time to fix
the problem, it is not when considering how long
it takes to build consensus on solutions, and
with each passing year, the options for
addressing the issues dwindle and become more
painful. To prevent Medicare’s insolvency, we
must address its cost burden now.
Time is wasting, and the Medicare Trustees are
not alone in sounding the alarm.
The Joint Economic Committee, reflecting on the
Trustee’s findings and similar projections by
the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office,
also noted the expected cuts to Medicare through
Obamacare that will make it harder for seniors
to access services and advised that “sensible
reforms now would prevent more drastic measures
in the future.”
The Medicare Trustees called on Congress and the
executive branch to “work closely together with
a sense of urgency” to address the depletion of
the trust fund growth in expenditures. We must
listen to their warnings and act now. |
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