Medicare, Social Security drying up faster than expected

Denver Business Journal ^ | May 13, 2009 | Kathy Robertson

[george76]

Trust funds that support Medicare and Social Security have eroded due to the recession and will run out of money earlier than expected, government officials say.

Medicare, the government health care program for seniors, is projected to run out of money in 2017, two years earlier than previously predicted, according to the 2009 annual report by program trustees.

Social Security, the government assistance program for seniors and the disabled, is projected to become insolvent by 2037, four years earlier than trustees predicted a year ago.

[TribalPrincess2U]

I’m sure it will if the libturds are in charge.

Zero seems to find no limit to spending money
we don’t have now.

Get him out NOW!

[TribalPrincess2U]

Get them all out before it’s too late.

No more pelousie, no more reid, no more demonRATs period!

[TribalPrincess2U]

Can you imagine how the WH will look when they’re gone...remember the clintons. This will be much worse, but worth it.

The WH will need a complete makeover.

[JWinNC]

Does anyone really believe that there is actually money in either of these funds? The ponzi scheme continues.

jw

[YankeeReb]

With the Bamtard in charge what do you expect? In a way Zer0 is simply proving what conservatives have been saying for years, Soc Sec , medicare or any program dependent on tax dollars are unsustainable. As more lose their jobs they tend to use these services more but at the same time they're no longer supporting them. It's a recipe for disaster.

We're seeing now what's going to be normal once baby boomers start retiring in droves.

[outofstyle]

Get them all out before it’s too late.

It's already too late. But by all means "get them out!" The only sick consolation is that, in the end, the political offspring of the socialists who started us down this road will surely hang.

[Mike Darancette]

I want all you youngsters to work hard so I can get my checks when it is time.

[qam1]

Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.  

[freekitty]

They eroded because they have been stolen from for years by Congress

I know, let’s take Congress pensions and apply them to these funds.

[The Comedian]

Excuse me, uh, trust funds?

BWAHAHAHAHA!

"Lock box".

Morons.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[wastoute]

I don’t know what this author is talking about. As I understand it both these programs are bleeding red ink now.

[GOPJ]

Social Security disability replaced welfare in the inner cities. Odd how the press won’t give us the numbers on that - they keep talking about raising the age of retirement for those who worked their whole lives - so 28 year old gang bangers can collect social security payments for 50+ years...

[seowulf]

Sure is a good thing the government tells us there’s no inflation and that prices are actually going down.

That means they can cut old people’s social security checks.

Hey, Granny! Here’s you crisp, new 10 dollar bill for this months groceries.

[ChildOfThe60s]

A) there are no trust funds, never have been
B) the money has been spent as fast as it came in
C) since there really is no money for these entitlements, the smart thing to do is socialize medicine and borrow even more trillions. Great sales pitch.

Sebelius thinks it’s great because the Dem’s plan will make her a mini dictator with more power than most heads of state.

[cherry]

SS is not the "governments"...program..its OUR program....we workers have paid for it....

they like to act as if its a gift..

maybe for the millions that have never actually held a job that get SS anyway, or the immigrants who swear that they can't find their Birth certificates but they are surely over 65...

I've got a sil who has had TWO stints of "disability"....she didn't have to work when she had children and now she's "retired" for several years ....

the Govt. better get its act together....

[mrmeyer]

And I want the current system to be completely phased out so the generational theft this ponzi scheme put in motion can cease.

[PaulAllen]

This was written in 1996

These labels have proved misleading because Congress has exercised its legal right to change the tax and benefit structure on numerous occasions. Indeed, frequent changes have caused OASI to grow from a small initiative for providing retirement security into a massive and complex program that involves huge cross-generational resource transfers. The lopsided nature of the investment deal that rewards earlier participants at the expense of those who enroll later raises serious questions about the program’s intergenerational fairness.

Under current rules, OASI represents a bad investment for today’s young workers, many of whom would be better off if they could invest their future contributions in private capital markets. The current rules are not sustainable, however: Additional measures will be necessary to keep the program solvent, and these are likely to further worsen current workers’ rates of return.

http://www.clevelandfed.org/research/commentary/1996/010196.htm

1998
Increased funding requires either higher taxes or lower future benefits if the program is to build up assets while simultaneously honoring past obligations to retirees. The critical issue is how the prefunding burden will be shared between generations. Delays in reforming Social Security will naturally shift more of the burden onto future generations who, much to their disadvantage, have no political voice.
http://www.sf.frb.org/econrsrch/wklyltr/wklyltr98/el98-37.html

1999
In general, Social Security favors low-wage earners over high-wage earners, older workers over younger workers, women over men, and immigrant workers over U.S.-born workers. The “average” U.S. worker faces a rate of return on contributions that is quite low—less than 2% after adjusting for inflation. By comparison, the real yield on a 10-year inflation-indexed Treasury Bond is currently around 3.5%. In addition to being low, rates of return from Social Security must be viewed as risky because they are subject to change from future political actions that will be needed to ensure long-term solvency of the program. Under intermediate demographic and economic assumptions, Gokhale (1998) reports that the OASI payroll tax rate must be increased by about 4 percentage points (from 10.7 to 14.6%) to pay for projected benefits on an ongoing basis, i.e., for 75 years and beyond.
http://www.sf.frb.org/econrsrch/wklyltr/wklyltr99/el99-34.html