Tuesday, March 25, 2008

No Surprises in Trustees Report

Social Security is fully funded for 33 years and Medicare is solvent for another decade. But don't be surprised if those details are buried in any coverage you might read about this year's Trustees Report. It just doesn't fit with this administration's "entitlement crisis" calls.

This year’s trustees report confirmed what we already know about the health of Social Security and Medicare...Social Security will continue to have a surplus for more than three decades while a nationwide healthcare crisis continues to escalate costs for seniors in Medicare. Here’s reaction from our President/CEO Barbara Kennelly:

“This trustees report shows that Social Security is on track to pay full benefits for more than 3 decades. But the challenges of skyrocketing healthcare costs are threatening not just seniors in Medicare but Americans nationwide. No doubt, this annual report will have the sky-is-falling crowd calling for ‘entitlement reform’ again while they continue to ignore America’s healthcare crisis and fight to protect billions in insurance industry subsidies which steal years of solvency from the Medicare program”

Once again the trustees report included a Medicare funding warning designed to trigger massive and arbitrary program cuts like those proposed by the President this year. Kennelly says,
"Mandating Medicare cuts based on an arbitrary funding level hurts beneficiaries, ignores the larger issue of skyrocketing healthcare costs, and will ultimately destroy this vital program just when our nation needs it most”.

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