In a letter to the editor of the Citrus County Chronicle published today, Rich highlights the Medicare Board of Trustees' 2011 Annual Report in which they predict Medicare's trust fund bankruptcy within 6-13 years:
Yes, Save Medicare
I write today in response to a letter the Chronicle ran on May 25, 2011, titled, "Save Medicare."
When I saw the headline, I was expecting to read a letter calling for stabilization of Medicare, not a partisan attack defending the status quo. Here's why: About two weeks ago, the Board of Trustees of Medicare revised last year's estimate of the program's solvency. In its 2010 annual report, the board said the Medicare trust fund would be exhausted "within 7 to 19 years." The trustees' 2011 report moves up that outside deadline by an additional five years.
According to the trustees, Medicare will now exhaust its funds within 13 years. Baby Boomers are entering Medicare at a rate of 10,000 per day and that pace will continue for nearly two decades. At the same time, there will be proportionately fewer workers paying into the system to support it. It is mathematically unsustainable. But whether Medicare is bankrupt in six years, 13 years, or 19, the American people deserve the chance to have a serious discussion about whether or not we want to allow Medicare to go bankrupt at all. The 260,000 seniors I represent certainly don't.
The Ryan plan does not make a single change to Medicare benefits for those 55 and up and it maintains the program's solvency for current and future generations. I would only add that while the Ryan plan may not change Medicare for current retirees, the status quo certainly will: the program won't be there.
I strongly encourage anybody who is on or near retirement to read the trustees' report and consider seriously what it means for your own retirement security. The bankrupt status quo is not an option and I am open to any proposal -- no matter who offers it -- that will ensure that Medicare can continue to function for this and future generations.
Call me and let me know what you think Congress should do: (352) 799-8354 or (202) 225-1002.
Rich Nugent
Congressman, Fifth District