A. Medicare is not an entitlement.
Medicare will create staggering financial challenges for U.S. government. According to a report, there are 57 million beneficiaries of Medicare. But with majority of Baby Boomers to retire between 2022 and 2029, by 2030, at least 80 million people will have Medicare. That is two taxpayers for every one recipient, this is simply not sustainable, just like Social Security is not sustainable as we discussed yesterday.
The unfunded liability for Social Security is approximately $15 trillion. The unfunded liability for Medicare is approximately $100 trillion. These figures will be compounded by the increased longevity of the American people. Each year of increase in longevity will increase the unfunded liability for Social Security and Medicare by trillions of dollars. Dollars that we do not have.
But recipients of Social Security and Medicare will allow very little tampering with their benefits, and they have the votes to elect candidates who will not try to tamper with them.
So where will we, as a country, get the money to pay for this? Will we have to make reductions in many other areas of services that are provided by government? What and where will those reductions be? Won’t that require higher taxes, create lower benefits, cause serious money printing, or trigger some combination of all of those actions?