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Medicare ails, too

Medicare and Social Security are running out of money more quickly than expected, officials said Tuesday.

Government trustees reported that a combination of rising costs and an aging population has cut the life expectancy of Medicare’s trust fund to just eight years.

The program is now expected to deplete its funds by 2026, down from last year’s estimate of 2029.

Meanwhile, higher benefit payouts mean Social Security will have to dip into its nearly $3 trillion trust fund for the first time since 1982 — and trustees warned that the program would be insolvent by 2034.

The news was not all bad at Social Security.

The fund that assists disabled individuals is now expected to remain solvent through 2032, up from an earlier projection of 2028. However, the fund for retirees is expected to go broke a year sooner than earlier projections.

The trustees say that after 2034, Social Security will be able to pay out about three- quarters of the benefits it owes to recipients.

Both programs are funded by dedicated taxes that no longer generate sufficient revenue to cover either program’s costs.

The financial future of both entitlement programs was further complicated by one of President Trump’s most controversial decisions.

His $1.5 trillion tax-cut program reduced expected revenues for the two programs over coming years, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The White House claims the long-running economic boom will help secure Medicare’s and Social Security’s future.

“The administration’s economic agenda — tax cuts, regulatory reform and improved trade agreements — will generate the longterm growth needed to help secure these programs,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday.

More than 60 million Americans benefit from both programs, which provide a guaranteed income and health-care coverage for many retirees and the disabled.