Medicare finances

Abstract

The brief's key findings are: (1) Headlines from the 2023 Medicare Trustees' Report focused on the program’s looming financial concerns. (2) But the Report itself did not contain bad news -- in fact, it showed modest improvements over the prior year. (3) And, more strikingly, the outlook is much better than it was a decade ago, even under assumptions that policymakers curb some cost controls. (4) Nevertheless, Medicare still faces significant challenges: (a) its costs are high because it operates within the very expensive U.S. health care system; and (b) at the same time, it has serious gaps in insurance protection.