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1 1 (July 16, 2020)

handle is hein.amenin/aeiadcb0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ep -'\ntos and James C. C-apreta The 2020 Mediaie tustees' repoit released in /,ril did not incorporate hvv the coi-or.nvirus paidemic would affect progcar: fcinlcs. Ever so, the trustees proect thvi the . Aed..cre Hospi- I lnsur,-- ne (HI) trust Fund vill u:,_--u le to full/coer it. oL. began is rir- g in 2026. Whiie the cost otreating natierts with (OVI .-9 might be ofet by a delay. or reduction in patiert. use o ,athe- medica se rvf -s, the deep recess: iilOW un -rer,_v-y wil erode payirol tax re-veie ,_-i rd hasten tIM depl:etion of HI reserves, [he Supplementaiy Medicare insurarce trust fund, vvh:.c.h accourts for th1e cost of phvsica, ar:d other services and Lhe drug bel,efiL, adds an even Larger Lu; den ot... t/avr,, C ongqe'' ..nd tnm admint,.tit.on shond refon nn the artiie proiarn to lowei long-tenn coss while pirotecting the quality of se'vloes provided to the naton eidely. SARS -CoV-2. is a bi3gnJy transmissible novel coona.vi -us that is causing COVID-i9 disease in la,ge numbers of I-S patients. The elderly anid those wit>- preexisting health condrtions are particuiariv vulnerable to seve c and dangerous symptomis. [he nation's health insurance program for the clderihvMedicare was facing financial challenges before thc pandemic. The public health cnrisis, ad thc contraction of the economyW it precipitated, w. ill exac- erbate those challenges. The annual Medicare trustees' report docu ents the program's ongoing fiscal prob- lems. which have serious consequences for futmre gener ations of American taxpayers and Mcdicarc beNefici arics. Because the pandemic's onset onily began to be real Lied in March, the likely impact on the economy a. health sector could not be accurately projected. The zozo report pudently does not speculate about the changes in Medicare spending and rexcnue that might result, With add'tional months of exoeience. t seems likely that Medicare spenditng idi not incr-ease sharply because of COViD-n9. The immediate threat to Medicare finances is the loss of payroll tax revenue caused by the spike in uncmaployiment. Hoecvc-; Medicare spending remains on. anl. unsustainable course. Substantial reforms are necded to cnsurc access to affordable, high lquality care in ,the Medicame program over the long ten. Medicare's Two Trust Funds A federal n st fird is an accounting decice for track- ing a specific government program's spending and reve- nuc (Peter G. Petcrson Foundation 2.o19) Uinlilkc private trust funds, a federal trust fund is not a reeositov of eco- niomic assets. The federal goveinment does not set aside the reccipts in personal acvounts or invcst them, in pn- vate assets. _Athougi receipts are recorded as accou-nt ing crcdits in the trust ind account, they are combined Mith other receipts that Treasur collects and spends. A RI CA'.R<I N LNl-ERPRISE lNS-I-UiE UV 2020 t.MVID-19 and the Medicare Trust Funds

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