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CDSaint
03-25-2005, 03:31 PM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&ncid=1896&e=2&u=/nm/20050325/us_nm/economy_treasury_medicare_dc

from the article is the following excerpt

Rising health care costs and the aging of the baby boom generation has pushed Social Security and Medicare to center stage in U.S. politics. President Bush (news - web sites) has made overhauling Social Security his lead domestic initiative and has launched an aggressive campaign to promote its proposal to allow younger workers divert part of their retirement savings into private investment accounts.


Still, some economists have argued that Medicare is a far more pressing problem for the country. According to data released this week, the Medicare hospital insurance trust fund will be depleted in 2020, while Social Security will exhaust its assets in 2041.

"Medicare finances are projected to get out of hand not only because of an aging society, but more importantly because of rapidly increasing health care costs," he said. "High health care cost growth is not a Medicare-specific problem, but an economywide problem."

Artis
03-28-2005, 01:26 PM
i agree, medicare is a bigger crisis than social security. some states, entire states, budgets might very well go bankrupt in the next couple of years because of medicare.

StAnkY
03-28-2005, 01:30 PM
i just dont see how as president surrounded by a "braintrust" couldnt address one without the other. especially since so many medicare recipients are on govt fixed incomes

Artis
03-28-2005, 03:28 PM
well the 2 are obviously related and both need to be addressed. ignoring one and hammering away at the other with a ghetto plan isnt the answer though :)

StAnkY
03-28-2005, 04:09 PM
yea thats cute. unforutnately i dont see any ideas spouting from anywhere else in washington

Artis
03-28-2005, 05:05 PM
']yea thats cute.

thx for the support :/

and as for people saying medicare is a bigger issue there are voices you just have to look for them. there are some congressman who have spoken up that it is a bigger issue right now. barack obama being one of them.

StAnkY
03-28-2005, 05:08 PM
problem is artis, its nothing but talk. im not trying to devalidate what your saying. its just that i see no forward movement whatsoever. all i see is open criticizm of the SS plan

Artis
03-28-2005, 05:16 PM
as you have stated.

give it a little time and i guarantee you there will be some sort of alternative plan that gets going if this one becomes dead in the water.

StAnkY
03-28-2005, 05:53 PM
maybe. or it may take this one actually coming to life and the opposition (speaking of members of both parties as this is highly unpopular) showing people a better way