The Medicare hospital trust fund will be depleted in 2030 unless Congress takes action to shore it up financially, according to a new report from the program’s trustees.
The latest projection adds 4 years of solvency to the Hospital Insurance (Part A) side of the program, compared with last year’s estimate. The trustees – administration officials and public representatives appointed by the president – gave credit to cost containment measures in the Affordable Care Act for providing some extra solvency to the Medicare program. The overall slowdown in health care spending also played a role, they said.
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Medicare hospital trust fund will be depleted in 2030 unless Congress takes action.
For Medicare Part B, which covers physician visits, the trustees predicted that beneficiary costs would remain stable. In 2015, Part B premiums are projected to stay about the same as in 2013 and 2014.
Despite the improvement in Medicare’s financial health, however, the trustees called on Congress to take action sooner rather than later to shore up the program’s finances.
"Projections of health expenditures, both in the public and private sectors, remain highly uncertain. The projected trust fund depletion date can bounce around a good deal from year to year," Robert Reischauer, Ph.D., a public trustee, said in a press conference July 28.
The depletion date moved 6 years into the future over the last three reports but moved 5 years back between the 2010 and 2011 reports, Dr. Reischauer said. He noted that the hospital trust fund solvency is so volatile because it depends on the strength of the economy, technology, and health care delivery changes, among other factors.
"The sooner lawmakers face reality, the better," he said.
mschneider@frontlinemedcom.com
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