Washington

By 2019, the Medicare trust fund could go broke. According to the annual report released in late March by the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees, Medicare's insolvency date is now seven years sooner than the trustees projected last year.

The bleak financial situation stems from medical advances that allow people to live longer, more productive lives. “But the result of these very happy trends, unfortunately, is a rate of growth of medical costs that will continue to far outstrip that of the economy,” the trustees said, adding that “legislative action to remedy this situation will be required shortly.”

According to the report, the new Medicare prescription drug law also raises “serious doubt about the sustainability of Medicare under current financing arrangements.” The trustees peg the 10-year cost of the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) at more than $500 billion.

Although such long-range estimates are uncertain, the report remains a key tool for policymakers in drafting future legislation.

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