USA TODAY: The Medicare and Social Security trust funds are both on “unsustainable paths” — as they have been for years — and will be exhausted by 2024 and 2033, respectively, a trustee report released Monday said…
“It’s in a much stronger position than it was a few years ago because of the Affordable Care Act,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, adding that spending in Medicare is growing at a slower rate than in the private sector. Even so, officials said, it’s not enough.
The trustees have predicted the depletion of the Medicare Trust Fund every year since they first began issuing reports in 1970, and they ultimately extend the deadlines out a few more years. However, the realities of Baby Boomers hitting senior-citizen status, Americans living longer and an economy that has supplied fewer workers to pay into Medicare and Social Security have left the trust funds paying out more than they take in… (more)
