Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Report Calls Out Federal Government on Future Medicare Spending

CBO has issued a reminder of the need
to cut Medicare spending. Health care programs are quickly outgrowing
their historical share of the federal budget, CBO said, and the cost of
those programs will only grow faster as more baby boomers reach
retirement and underlying health care costs continue to soar.

CBO's latest figures confirm what
Republicans and Democrats acknowledge only selectively —that health care
is a huge part of what's driving federal spending and debt. Health care
programs are eating up an ever-increasing share of the economy, while
tax revenues and other domestic spending are holding relatively steady,
CBO said. Federal spending on major health care programs will reach 6.3
percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020, CBO said —up from 4.7
percent this year, and far outstripping a 40-year average of just 2.7
percent. Medicare makes up about half of the projected spending. The
program for retirees will cost the government more than $700 billion in
2020, or 3.5 percent of GDP, according to CBO's estimates. Medicaid
clocks in at $514 billion, or 2.3 percent of GDP.

Source/more: The Hill