Insolvency: Medicare's Hospital Trust Fund

The Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds issued their 2008 report (see summary at www.ssa.gov/OACT/TRSUM/index.html) on March 25, 2008. The report was issued under the names of Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Secretary of the Trasury and Managing Trustee, Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services and Trustee, Elaine L. Chao, Secretary of Labor and Trustee and Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security and Trustee. Notably, the two public trustees who should have participated could not, because they were never appointed by the President, subject to Senate confirmation.

Ten years ago, I would have been significantly more trusting in the report than I am today. In the interim, our government, and particularly the Executive branch. has proved itself to be untruthful and incompetent. Rampant political bias has infected every element of decision making, personnel placement and expectations, and public communication. In short, since we have been lied to repeatedly why should we accept the truth of this report which, for the most part, comes under the signature of political appointees of that very same Executive? The integrity of the report cannot be greater than the integrity of its source.

The report ends with the statement: "This year's Trustees Reports describe large long-term financial imbalances for Social Security and Medicare, and demonstrate the need for timely and effective action. The sooner that solutions are adopted, the more varied and gradual they can be." Unfortunately, this is a political call to arms. Instead, the call should be for sophisticated bipartisan analysis and recommendations, which are isolated from political maneuvering, political contributions, and lobbyists and which will focus on the health of Social Security and Medicare as they relate to the health of our country and its people.