Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicare Fund Could Be Depleted By 2028, Trustees Say
The New York Times: Medicare And Social Security Trustees Warn Of Shortfalls
The Obama administration said Wednesday that the financial outlook for Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund had deteriorated slightly in the last year and that Social Security still faced serious long-term financial problems. The report, from the trustees of the two programs, could inject a note of fiscal reality into a presidential campaign that has given scant attention to the government’s fiscal challenges as the population ages. Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has proposed increasing Social Security benefits and allowing people age 55 to 64 to “buy into” Medicare, while Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has repeatedly said he would not cut either program. (Pear, 6/22)
Modern Healthcare: Trustees' Report Says Medicare Will Be Insolvent By 2028
The Medicare trust fund will be insolvent by 2028, according to the 2016 Medicare trustees' report released Wednesday. The prediction is a departure from the 2030 date the Obama administration outlined in the previous two reports. The estimate is still later than the timeline released by the Congressional Budget Office in January, which estimated the program would be solvent only until 2026. (Dickson, 6/22)
The Wall Street Journal: Social Security, Medicare Face Insolvency Over 20 Years, Trustees Report
The annual report card from the programs’ trustees said Medicare’s hospital-insurance trust fund, which provides coverage to more than 55 million Americans, will exhaust its reserves by 2028, two years sooner than estimated last year. (Timiraos, 6/22)
Reuters: Medicare Program Spending Within Target Rate: Trustees
The Medicare program, which provides health coverage for more than 55 million older as well as disabled people, said that the projected growth rate for per capita spending has not exceeded its target. That put aside the need for the program's regulator, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, to establish a savings target and to initiate mandatory spending cuts, their annual financial report said. As such, the government would not need to immediately set up an Independent Payment Advisory Board to make proposals on the cuts, it said. (Humer and Krauskopf, 6/22)
The Wall Street Journal: Higher Earners Face Steep Hikes In Medicare Premiums
Nearly a third of all Medicare beneficiaries face a steep increase in their premiums next year, the result of a policy that in certain circumstances requires some beneficiaries, including higher earners, to shoulder the burden of rising costs. The government health-care plan’s trustees projected in a report Wednesday that premiums would rise by as much as 22% for wealthier beneficiaries of Medicare Part B, which covers doctor visits and other types of outpatient care. (Tergensen, 6/22)
The Associated Press: Candidates Avoid Medicare, Social Security Finance Woes
The nation's framework for economic security and health care in retirement is financially unsustainable, but you wouldn't know it from listening to the presidential candidates. ... Medicare's trust fund will run out in 2028, and Social Security's in 2034. The candidates have said little to acknowledge the issue, although it's at the root of the government's budget problems. They may not be able to avoid it once in the White House. Health care costs, in particular, can be volatile. And liberals and conservatives agree it's important to act sooner rather than later, to avoid disruptions for retirees and workers. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Ohlemacher, 6/23)
The Hill: Medicare Trust Fund Running Out Of Money Fast
Andy Slavitt, acting head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, underscored the role ObamaCare has played in helping to slow down overall healthcare costs. “Some of this reduction in Medicare spending is the direct result of payment reforms in Affordable Care Act,” Slavitt told reporters. (Ferris, 6/22)
