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Economy extends Medicare’s financial life
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4-10-2000 Washington. A robust economy and a decline in Medicare spending are being credited with extending the financial life of the nation’s Medicare program by eight years, according to federal officials. Medicare will remain solvent until 2023, Medicare trustees reported, the longest projection of solvency for the Medicare program since 1974. "Fiscal discipline has contributed enormously to the current economic expansion," said Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, one of six trustees who oversee the Medicare fund. Previous projections when President Clinton came into office indicated the fund would go bankrupt by 1999. The report cautions, however, that Congress must take action to control costs as the baby boom generation – the 76 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 – approaches retirement age. The Medicare report projects enrollment will double to 81 million by 2035 because of baby boomers. The oldest of the baby boomers will become eligible for Medicare at age 65, in 11 years. "We must keep working for a consensus on how to protect and modernize Medicare,’’ said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala, another trustee. "We must keep the promise we made 35 years ago to America’s senior citizens. And we must keep the promise in the future.’’ Medicare’s bright short-term financial outlook is expected to boost Congressional support for President Clinton’s plan to create a voluntary prescription drug benefit for Medicare’s 39 million enrollees.
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