PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE O-ED: …Over the period 1971-2013, Pennsylvania’s personal income tax base rose proportionately with respect to broadly measured personal income. However, spending pressures for the elderly in terms of health care and long-term care, grew disproportionately. For every 1 percent increase in Pennsylvania’s personal income, the personal income tax base grew by 1 percent. But spending on seniors out of the general fund and off budget grew by 1.4 to 1.5 percent.
Given the Census Bureau’s demographic projections of the Keystone State’s increasingly older population and the fact that seniors have above average need for public services, especially long-term care, our elected officials will continue to grapple with this fiscal mismatch.
Pennsylvania’s population for the next 10 years will be stable at around 12.5 million. But there will be, by 2025, 1 million more seniors than today and consequently that many fewer working-age adults… (more)
