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GAO-03-247R 1 (2003-03-04)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaamdu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548 March 4, 2003 The Honorable Thomas A. Scully Administrator Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Subject: Medicare Trust Funds Actuarial Estimates: Efforts Have Been Made to Improve Internal Control over Projection Process but Some Weaknesses Remain Dear Mr. Scully: Medicare spending growth remains one of the most pressing and complex issues facing the Congress and the nation. During calendar year 2001, the most recent year for which complete data were available at the time of our review, over 40 million Medicare enrollees received $240.9 billion in benefits from the trust funds maintained for Hospital Insurance (HI) and Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI), Medicare's two components. The Boards of Trustees' of the trust funds are required to report annually on the current and projected financial status of the Medicare program to the Congress and the American people.2 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) Office of the Actuary (OACT) provides estimates to the boards to assist them in setting certain assumptions about HI and SMI future performance that are needed to prepare long-range and short-range projections of the financial status of the trust funds for the Trustees' reports. Based on the boards' assumptions, OACT then prepares the projections and the Trustees' reports for the boards. In its 2002 annual report, the Board of Trustees estimated that, under current rules, HI expenditures would begin 'The Medicare Boards of Trustees were established under the Social Security Act, as amended, to oversee the financial operations of the Medicare trust funds. The boards are composed of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Commissioner of Social Security, and two members of the public who are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. These same Trustees serve on the Board of Trustees for the Social Security trust funds. Many of the demographic and economic assumptions that determine Medicare costs and income are common to the Social Security trust funds. 2 42 U.S.C. 1395i requires the Medicare Trustees to submit an annual report on the HI Trust Fund; 42 U.S.C. 1395t requires the Trustees to submit an annual report on the SMI Trust Fund. GAO-03-247R CMS's Controls over Projections

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