The Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will have sufficient funds to cover its obligations until 2026, three years earlier than projected last year, according to the latest annual report from the Medicare Board of Trustees. The projected 75-year actuarial deficit in the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is 0.82% of taxable payroll, up from 0.64% in last year’s report. Medicare’s total costs under current law will rise steadily from their current level of 3.7% of gross domestic product in 2017 to 5.9% in 2042.
The report can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/ReportsTrustFunds/Downloads/TR2018.pdf.