[Degaston]

Unless Trump/Sessions does something to actually solve the Medicare/Medicaid problem then we go over the fiscal cliff during Trump’s first term.

http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=231865

“... There are two ways to cut Medicare and Medicaid: The first is to screw everyone while the second is to enforce the law and start locking up health care providers, executives and pharma for anti-trust violations that embody law on the books for over 100 years.

Trump has now proved he is going to do neither, despite it being fact that the latter not only doesn’t require Congressional consent (since the law already exists) Congress can’t stop him from doing so either (since the Executive is exclusively entrusted with enforcing law under the Constitution.)

Not only has Trump been completely silent on the anti-trust issue (and I remind you, for those who think there isn’t one there are now lawsuits and even Racketeering allegations that have been filed in this regard by the states and private parties) his Treasury Secretary has now disavowed any sort of cost control in that regard at all ....”

[vette6387]

“Trump has now proved he is going to do neither”

How do you know that? For peet’s sake, he’s only been in office for little over a month and yet “you know” he’s not going to do anything about waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare. Maybe you should contact “the psychic friends network” and arrange to get people to pay you for your sage knowledge and advice.

[kabar]

There are two ways to cut Medicare and Medicaid: The first is to screw everyone while the second is to enforce the law and start locking up health care providers, executives and pharma for anti-trust violations that embody law on the books for over 100 years.

Trump has now proved he is going to do neither, despite it being fact that the latter not only doesn’t require Congressional consent (since the law already exists) Congress can’t stop him from doing so either (since the Executive is exclusively entrusted with enforcing law under the Constitution.)

Both Medicare and SS are unsustainable actuarially as currently structured. They are pay as you go programs with today's workers paying for today's retirees. In 1950 there were 16 workers for every reitree; today, there are less than three; and by 2030 there will be just two workers for every retiree.

The only way Medicare and SS can be made sustainable is to either decrease benefits or increase taxes or some combination thereof. We have 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day for the next 20 years. The population over 65 will double by 2030.

Cutting the budgets of EPA, State Department, etc will not save these entitlement programs. Over two-thirds of the budget are dedicated to the entitlement programs and debt servicing costs. Our aging population will increase that percentage of the budget for entitlement programs unless we reform the programs.

Trump is smart not to take the lead on entitlement reform. Both parties must take responsibility for reform. The Dems will attack the Reps politically if they initiate reform actions using their old playbook that the Reps want to take away Medicare and SS from the elderly. Trump outsmarted the Dems during the campaign saying he wanted to preserve both programs and not cut benefits.