Especially when it’s funded through the FICA tax and the U.S. workforce is huge since the millennial generation is the largest generation (even in comparison to baby boomers).
In: Economics
More older folks using it than younger people paying for it to cover their rising healthcare costs, medications, etc.
It won’t go bankrupt, but could become insolvent. That is until Congress intervenes.
The compensation rates are insane. The amount Americans pay for basic shit is 100x what other countries pay for the same services
It’s a combination of demographic changes, longer lifespans, and an explosion of healthcare costs.
When medicare was created there were about 5.5 prime-age workers for each retiree drawing benefits.
Today, there are just under 3 prime-age workers, with that number expected to drop below 2 by 2050.
The reduction in workers is made worse because people are living longer in retirement and spending significantly more money on healthcare expenses.
A side effect of our extremely advanced medical research and therapy development is that we now have a broader range of far more effective medical interventions for the elderly.
A cancer diagnosis that would have been a unequivocal death sentence (and therefore cost the taxpayer next to nothing) in the 70’s/80’s can now be treated, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, to extend lifespan a few more years and draw even more medicare benefits.
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