Is Social Security and Medicare Sustainable?

A recent report by the GAO (Government Accountability Office) has established that Social Security and Medicare are not monetarily sustainable with the rising cost of services, compounded with the number of recipients going up. In fact, the report asserted that for the governmental programs to deliver their promised benefits over the next 75 years, they will need to come up with an extra $41 trillion.

The report stated that Social Security alone will need more than $7 trillion. Medicare Hospitalization will need $12 trillion, while Medicare Part B (doctor’s services) and Medicare Part D (prescription drugs) will need $13 trillion and $8 trillion.

The GAO’s report doesn’t just simply state that Social Security and Medicare are not monetarily sustainable for the future, it proposes that the programs should be updated and modified for the rapidly changing needs of the elderly and the new challenges the 21st century. The report mentions that the health care system, the tax system and all other government programs should be assessed and changed to make them more sustainable for the not-so-distant future.

If the programs don’t change, the $41 trillion will have to be created over the next 75 years through new taxes and spending cuts.




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