And nothing will be done about it. Once government assumes the role of Santa Claus, it's political suicide for anyone to suggest that it's abad idea.Medicare will not be able to cover the cost of in-patient care beginning in 2026, three years earlier than initially predicted.The Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund, or HI, will only be able to cover 91 percent of costs in 2026, according to a trustee report released on Tuesday. This would leave the trust fund $1.4 billion in debt. That number will increase to $58.7 billion the next year, according to the report.The HI trust fund was previously expected to become insolvent in 2023, according to the Congressional Research Service. (RELATED: Medicare Part D Costs Increased Despite Less Drugs Being Prescribed)The HI trust fund, or Medicare Part A, “helps pay for hospital, home health services following hospital stays, skilled nursing facility, and hospice care for the aged and disabled.” Medicare Part A paid $293.3 billion in benefits in 2017.
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
The impossible costs of putting government in the business of caring for our health
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Yet here comes armchair General Uncle Donnie giving away 5 Bil to increase veteran's healthcare options, but not wanting to pay for it out of anything but budgetary cuts. I know the reason there's the social insurance program called Medicare, because private insurers don't want to assume the risk without exorbitant premiums that the elderly can ill afford as they age out of productive remunerative work. But the few, the proud (who have a huge homelessness and addiction problem, go figure) get free health care for life and this new "shot in the arm" when taxes have just been reduced to a rather large degree which Uncle Donnie and his Happy Hearts Club Band continually gloat about.
ReplyDeleteThat's a whole lot of impassioned verbiage there, but it doesn't offer a solution to the problem pointed out in this post.
ReplyDeleteTaxes. They should not have been cut so severely.
ReplyDeleteSeizing more money from the American people at gunpoint is not the answer.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just government pension plans and healthcare that are headed for financial disaster, private plans are going bust too. This is all leading to a substantial retirement crisis in America that will be an international shame.
ReplyDelete