Economy Could Take Toll On Medicare
Economy Could Take Toll On Medicare Save Email Print
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(December 1, 2008)—The struggling economy is likely to speed up by one to three years the exhaustion of the Medicare trust fund covering hospital and nursing home care, federal health officials estimate.

Social Security and Medicare Trustees warned last March that the trust fund for Medicare Part A would become insolvent in 2019, but the chief actuary for Medicare said Monday the economy will likely generate less revenue through payroll taxes than the trustees had projected.

Once the trust fund is exhausted, the federal government will continue to pay for hospital care and other services, but it would only have enough money coming in to cover 78 percent of estimated costs.
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