Medicare Fund Exhausted by 2024

Funding for Medicare will be exhausted in 2024, according to the annual report from the program’s trustees, but federal health officials note that the program would run dry eight years sooner if not for the Affordable Care Act. The good news is that the 2024 projection remains unchanged from last year’s estimate (whereas in last year’s report the exhaustion date was 11 years closer than in the preceding report). According to a senior government official, there were fewer inpatient admissions in 2011 than expected, and also admissions were overall less severe, and therefore less costly, than in previous years. The official said it wasn’t clear what was driving the less-expensive hospital care, but he guessed that a greater number of simple procedures may have been performed in an outpatient setting. The bad news is that the Medicare program’s longer-term outlook has grown much bleaker. “Today’s Medicare Trustees report is clear – without congressional action, physicians who care for Medicare patients will face a devastating cut of 30.9% on Jan. 1.”