According to the trustees who monitor Medicare and Social Security, the trust fund that supports Medicare will be out of money by 2018. The main reason appears to be rising health care costs. (Washington Post)
Medicare and Social Security are funded through payroll taxes, so expect those to increase in the near future to compensate for higher costs. The bottom line is that beneficiaries probably will have to pay more out-of-pocket expenses.
Before this bad news was reported, a study on Americans’ poor health hit the news cycle. According to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, middle-aged white Americans are unhealthier than their English counterparts. Despite spending more on health care, Americans are stricken with higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, strokes, and cancer. From a CNN news story:
Americans reported twice the rate of diabetes compared to the English: 12.5 percent versus 6 percent. For high blood pressure, it was 42 percent for Americans versus 34 percent for the English; cancer showed up in 9.5 percent of Americans compared to 5.5 percent of English.
We’ve heard for years that Americans are fat, but the question is why are Americans fatter and sicker than the English? One expert quoted in the story said the English are healthier because they have better primary care. Another expert says the “stress of striving for the American dream” may account for the disparities.