Monday, August 4, 2014

Little Reason to Celebrate about Medicare

Lost amid discussion of the Medicare trustees report and the additional four years until the program becomes insolvent is the fact that for the sixth consecutive year, Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund paid out more in benefits than it generated in revenue.

Table III.B4 on Page 56 of the trustees report tells the tale. In 2013 Medicare’s hospital insurance (Part A) trust fund took in $251.1 billion in revenue while spending $266.2 billion. On top of this $15 billion loss, the losses from 2008 through 2012 were more than $105 billion. The 2014 loss is estimated to be $13.6 billion.

In total, Medicare Part A is projected to pay out $134.2 billion more than it took in from 2008 through 2014. And the trustees forecast that the losses will not be recouped: Trust fund balances will never recover to their pre-2008 levels largely because of long-predicted demographic changes.

Those who cite the projected 2030 insolvency date to argue that the program does not immediately need significant reforms ignore the fact that the same trust fund has run deficits for six straight years–is expected to for a seventh. Policymakers focused on a delayed insolvency date imply a strategy of managed decline for Medicare. The American people deserve real, lasting solutions.

This post was originally published at the Wall Street Journal Think Tank blog.