This year, with my sidekick Michael Wicklein, I took a more-careful-than-usual look at the Trustees Report for the Medicare program.
The second — Supplementary Medical Insurance –consists of two separate accounts: Part B, which covers physician and outpatient hospital services, and Part D, which covers prescription drugs. The Medicare Trustees issue an annual report projecting the program’s finances under current law. In addition, the actuaries prepare an alternative scenario that limits the extent to which Medicare payments to hospitals and physicians fall below those made by private insurers.
As the headlines indicated, the HI trust fund is projected to deplete its reserves in 2031. In that year, revenues would be sufficient to cover only 89% of program costs, so benefits would be reduced immediately by 11%. While the projected depletion is an action-forcing event for the Congress, the outlook has improved by three years since last year’s report.