Richard Eskow, Campaign for America’s Future
April 23, 2012 http://www.ourfuture.org/
Here are some headlines you won’t see after the
government releases new figures on Social Security and
Medicare later today:
“Social Security Trust Fund Even Larger Than It Was
Last Year”
“Growing Wealth Inequity Will Lead to Social Security
Imbalance Later This Century”
“For-Profit Healthcare Poses Threat to Medicare,
Federal Deficit, and Overall Economy in Coming Decades”
“Public Consensus Grows For Taxing Wealthy to Restore
Long-Term Entitlement Imbalance”
Instead here’s what we’ve already seen:
“Aging workforce strains Social Security, Medicare”
That headline’s completely wrong, and yet it’s been
repeated in dozens of different news outlets (sometimes
with minor variations) as they run an improved, but
still misleading, news story on Social Security and
Medicare from Stephen Ohlemacher at the Associated
Press.
* * * * *
As economists like L. Josh Bivens have shown,
there’s been a sharp increase in income inequity in the
last couple of decades. The payroll tax which finances
Social Security was reconfigured to capture 90 percent
of the nation’s income, but because the richest among
us are capturing more of our nation’s wealth that
figures is now closer to 83 percent.
If that hadn’t happened there would be no problem with
Social Security at all. Understanding the nature of the
problem helps us come up with a cure. If wealth
inequity is the cause, shouldn’t the solution also
center on inequity?
* * * * *
Medicare, unlike Social Security, does have very
serious long-term financial problems. Why? Because
we’re the only developed nation that insists in
delivering its health care through a system of for-
profit hospitals and other medical providers. The for-
profit medical/industrial complex has exploded in size
over the last few decades, and it’s driving our runaway
health care costs. The for-profit insurance system
which serves most insured Americans under 65 has no
incentive to resist for-profit medical care, and
arguably even benefits from runaway costs.
The impact of for-profit care on Medicare’s future can
be inferred from this quote by economist David Blitzer:
“”The trends in Medicare are more modest than the cost
increases we have seen in the private commercial
sector.” That’s because Medicare, as a government
program, is far more cost-efficient than the private
health insurance system.
* * * * *
Today, the Social Security Trustees released their
annual report on the financial status of Social
Security. The report, issued every year, projects
Social Security’s income and outgo for the next 75
years, and once again this year shows that Social
Security has a large and growing surplus.
Unfortunately, some tend to cite parts of the report
selectively, to make the case that Social Security is
in crisis and unaffordable. When the report is read in
its entirety, the facts speak otherwise. Below and
attached are some key points about the Trustees Report,
which we hope will be helpful to you as you review it.
The full Trustees Report can be found at:
The Dissenting Democrat 