Medicare and Revenue – Looking Back, Looking Forward

We are pleased to present a new Issue Brief by Marilyn Moon – “Ensuring Medicare’s Financial Health” – which reviews the fiscal solvency of Medicare and the Part A Trust Fund.

Since Medicare was introduced, the role of payroll taxes has been declining. There has been a major shift of spending from Part A, which is largely financed by payroll taxes, to Part B which is financed by general revenues and premiums. If payroll is a declining share, then the tax base is not keeping up with economic growth and consequently it may become less adequate over time as compared to broader based (e.g. income) taxes. This may be relevant in deciding whether to continue to rely on the payroll tax to fund the Medicare Trust Fund.

• Read highlights at: https://medicareadvocacy.org/medicare-and-revenue-looking-back-looking-forward/.
• Read the full Issue Brief at: https://medicareadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Issue-Brief-Medicare-Solvency.pdf.