Medicare and Social Security, Two of the government's most popular programs for the elderly, will run out of money sooner than thought earlier as a slow-growing economy dent revenues, a report Friday said.
As per the details of the report Medicare Trust fund is projected to exhaust in 2024, earlier than 2029 as estimated last year and Social Security retirement program to exhaust in 2036,not 2037 as previously thought. So far, Social Security appears to be off the table in the budget talks. But Republicans in the House are pushing to overhaul the Medicare healthcare program for future retirees.Their proposal would give the elderly a federal subsidy to purchase medical coverage from private insurers.
On monday, the debate between Obama administration and Republican intensified about to keep running this two costly programs in the United states as there was already a mounting pressure of how to cut spending and decrease budget deficits to reduce debt that set to hit the legal limit of 14.3 trillion.
Ahead of the report's release, Representative Xavier Becerra, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, said he expected it to show that slow economic growth has hit everyone hard, including Social Security.
But he said program, which was providing benefits to nearly 60 million Americans at the end of last year, should not be brought into the current debate over the deficit.
"There is a growing consensus that Social Security has never contributed a penny to national debt and is not an appropriate target for deficit reduction," he said in an interview.
Republicans argue the change is needed because a recent analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office shows the trust fund will be depleted in nine years.
Michelle Dimarob, spokeswoman for Republican Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, anticipated the trustees' report would show the recession putting a strain on the finances of both programs.
"We have got to demonstrate that we are serious about shoring up these entitlement programs," she said.
If agreement won't reach between two parties or US might not be able to manage fund raising for these programs , it might be an end of these two, Social Security and Medicare programs.
( Source: Reuters )
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