{"id":2255499,"date":"2024-05-30T03:04:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T07:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/apathy-is-the-biggest-threat-to-medicare-and-the-federal-budget\/"},"modified":"2024-05-30T03:08:08","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T07:08:08","slug":"apathy-is-the-biggest-threat-to-medicare-and-the-federal-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/apathy-is-the-biggest-threat-to-medicare-and-the-federal-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Neglect Poses a Major Risk to Medicare and the Federal Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fapathy-is-the-biggest-threat-to-medicare-and-the-federal-budget%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2255499&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses\u2062 the impact of Obamacare\u200b on Medicare&#8217;s fiscal health, highlighting how the law postponed Medicare&#8217;s insolvency but did not address fundamental financial issues. It emphasizes the need\u200c for a mechanism to compel action on deficits and debt to ensure long-term solvency. \u2064The piece underscores the ongoing challenge of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/with-the-u-s-navy-retiring-24-ships-are-plans-for-a-mega-fleet-dead\/\" title=\"With The U.S. Navy Retiring 24 Ships, Are Plans for a Mega-Fleet Dead?\">making tough choices<\/a> to sustain Medicare. The \u2063article delves \u200dinto the repercussions of Obamacare \u200bon\u2064 Medicare&#8217;s financial well-being, \u2063noting the delayed\u200d insolvency of Medicare but \u200bfailure to tackle\u200d core financial\u200b issues.\u2062 It \u200dstresses the necessity of\u2063 a mechanism to drive decisions on\u2062 deficits and debt for sustained solvency. The piece underscores the persisting challenge of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-bills-passed-traffic-cameras-food-additives-preferential-treatment-based-on-race\/\" title=\"California has passed bills on traffic cameras, food additives, and preferential treatment based on race.\">making difficult choices<\/a> to uphold Medicare&#8217;s stability.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Nearly 15 years ago, Barack Obama tried to sell Obamacare by attempting to raise alarms about what would happen to our health care system \u201cif we do nothing.\u201d A decade and a half on, no thanks to Obama\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nikki-haley-the-left-isnt-looking-out-for-the-little-guy\/\" title=\"NIKKI HALEY: The Left Isn\u2019t Looking Out For The Little Guy\">health care law<\/a>, \u201cnothing\u201d is what is happening regarding some of the biggest fiscal problems our nation faces.<\/p>\n<p>Obamacare didn\u2019t solve the fiscal problems associated with the retirement of the Baby Boom generation \u2014 on the contrary, in fact. By allowing lawmakers and presidents to ignore those problems for going on two decades, the law delayed but did not prevent our fiscal reckoning, making it all the more painful when that day finally arrives.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1131882562\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1f004f78da014ec9dde8231577c66872 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1f004f78da014ec9dde8231577c66872\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Trust Fund Gimmicks<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In 2009, right before the enactment of Obamacare, Medicare\u2019s trustees <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems\/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports\/ReportsTrustFunds\/downloads\/tr2009.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> that the program would become insolvent in 2017, eight years away. But within months after the law\u2019s passage, the 2010 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems\/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports\/ReportsTrustFunds\/downloads\/tr2010.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">trustees report<\/a> put off insolvency until 2029, a 12-year improvement. The report also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.juniperresearchgroup.com\/post\/2010\/08\/10\/some-perspective-on-the-medicare-trustees-estimates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reduced<\/a> the unfunded obligations of the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund from $13.4 trillion to $2.4 trillion over 75 years \u2014 a more than 82 percent reduction in unfunded obligations.<\/p>\n<p>Did Obamacare suddenly improve Medicare\u2019s finances by such dramatic leaps and bounds? In a word, no. Every dollar that supposedly extended the life of the Medicare trust fund was also used to pay for Obamacare, as then-Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius conceded in testimony before Congress:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"z12YlstKf4IotSd3hkGk8D6fAMCbar77cRBabBzm0UyEQsNugeWWT0E9unRcXvnLjo4NAFPOCFgT\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ratio ratio-16x9\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Shimkus Questions Sebelius on Budget Gimmicks in the Health Care Law\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ukaIZ7pmabo?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Obamacare only improved Medicare\u2019s finances <em>on paper<\/em>. In reality, the program likely became <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/10\/fact-check-medicare-is-already-functionally-insolvent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">functionally insolvent<\/a> years ago, meaning that only the budget gimmick allowing the same funds to count for funding Obamacare and extending the life of Medicare is keeping the latter program afloat.<\/p>\n<p>That paradigm should guide readers regarding the news that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/oact\/tr\/2024?mc_cid=5fc4849364&#038;mc_eid=2eb5d0dae0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">latest version<\/a> of the trustees\u2019 report has postponed Medicare\u2019s insolvency still further, to 2036. While developments analyzed in this year\u2019s report suggest that the program\u2019s financial situation has improved somewhat, they also mean that politicians have a continued excuse to duck the tough choices needed to keep the program solvent over the long term.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9bf694918fcc180086270f7cb3c5c030 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9bf694918fcc180086270f7cb3c5c030\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need for a Forcing Mechanism<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Some years ago, lawmakers understood that there needed to be a mechanism to force legislative action regarding deficits and debt, or otherwise <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/check-out-the-bravest-gun-rights-speech-youll-ever-see\/\" title=\"Check Out The Bravest Gun Rights Speech You\u2019ll Ever See\">weak-kneed politicians<\/a> would ignore looming problems until it became too late. Consider for instance these quotes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This amendment \u201cis designed \u2026 to immediately focus our attention next year \u2026 at the most critical time attention should be focused on taking on the tough measures. And that is when you have to raise the debt ceiling again. My mother says there is nothing like looking over the precipice to focus one\u2019s attention.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>This amendment \u201cwill provide the incentive to act next spring. It will do so because it says we cannot increase the debt limit again until we have acted on a budget freeze.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI cannot agree to vote for a full increase in the debt without any assurance that steps will be taken early next year to reduce the alarming increase in the deficits and the debt.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Those <a href=\"https:\/\/www.juniperresearchgroup.com\/post\/2023\/02\/08\/joe-bidens-hidden-history-on-medicare-and-social-security\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">quotes<\/a> come from none other than Sen. Joe Biden, speaking nearly two score years ago. In a Senate debate on raising the debt limit in the fall of 1984, Biden supported an amendment that would have forced Congress to act on freezing all federal spending (yes, including Social Security and Medicare). When the Senate failed to approve the amendment, Biden voted against raising the debt limit because it did not control Medicare and Social Security spending.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden of 1984 understood that lawmakers needed to hold their own feet to the fire and avoid ducking the tough fiscal issues. Unfortunately, four decades later, Biden has forgotten (or wants to forget) his own personal history and is using Obamacare\u2019s fiscal gimmicks, which masked but did not solve Medicare\u2019s shortfalls, as one reason to avoid making hard choices.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, Medicare and Social Security do not represent the only reasons for the mess our nation faces. Trillions of dollars in <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/04\/04\/heres-some-of-the-garbage-democrats-funded-as-covid-relief\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spending<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/09\/20\/new-report-nearly-triples-estimated-amount-covid-fraudsters-stole-in-unemployment-benefits\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">welfare benefits and outright fraud<\/a> during the Covid pandemic did nothing to help our fiscal situation, particularly because rising interest rates have led to a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/10\/26\/with-a-2t-deficit-this-year-washingtons-fiscal-failure-is-worse-than-you-think\/\">spiral in the amount<\/a> our nation has to pay to service our own debt.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-83d6293fbf67bad4d58c69dbf0cf6113 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-83d6293fbf67bad4d58c69dbf0cf6113\"><\/div>\n<p>But no comprehensive solution to our fiscal woes can avoid tackling Medicare and Social Security. And the more politicians use gimmicks and budgetary sleight-of-hand to delay confronting the obvious, the worse shape our children and grandchildren will be.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2977afe8a916265d1c1549cf98a8fc33 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2977afe8a916265d1c1549cf98a8fc33\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About 15 years back, Barack Obama aimed to promote Obamacare by warning about the consequences of inaction on our healthcare system. A decade and a half later, due in part to Obama&#8217;s health law, little progress has been made on key fiscal challenges facing our nation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2255500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/49449438968_05d1b70ce4_k.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2255499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/49449438968_05d1b70ce4_k.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2255499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2255500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2255499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2255499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2255499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}