Lawmakers Should Establish Commission To Address Financial Stability of Entitlement Programs, Editorial States

Lawmakers should adopt the "modest plan" proposed by U.S. Comptroller General David Walker and others to form a bipartisan commission to address issues related to the long-term financial stability of Medicare and other entitlement programs, a San Francisco Chronicle editorial states.

According to the editorial, expected increases in spending for entitlement programs as baby boomers begin to reach retirement age in 2010 "will be profound," and current proposals to address the issue are "political nonstarters that rally voters and go nowhere." The "biggest concern" is Medicare, which will "outstrip its fees and premiums by $34 trillion" over the next 75 years because of increased health care costs and enrollment in the program, the editorial states.

"Each day of delay" in efforts to address the long-term financial stability of entitlement programs "compounds the sacrifice that will be required down the road," the editorial states (San Francisco Chronicle, 3/10).