Medicare- Unfunded Liabilities Exacerbated by the Addition of Part D

What is about to be written here is very, very difficult to get our minds around as Americans.  The dollar figures mentioned here are estimates and are almost impossible to get a precise read on.  The most reliable source for information is the Trustee Reports that are released annually and are a matter of public record at the Health & Human Services Website ...I whole heartedly recommend this site and its associated documents as a sure cure for insomnia and perhaps it could also double as a torture chamber in some sense.

Having said that, the estimates are as follows.  Previous to Part D (the incredible, fiscally irresponsible prescription drug act called the Medicare Moderinzation Act of 2003) the underfunded liabilities of the U.S. Government with respect to promises made under Medicare stood at a staggering $18-20 trillion dollars.  That is approximately $5 Trillion dollars more than the entire national debt which stands at $14.1 Trillion today, February 28, 2011.  Again, the long-term underfunded (or non-funded) liabilities of the taxpayer with respect to the Medicare program back in 2003 were already some very worrysome percentage more than the entire February, 2011 dollar amount owed by the country for every borrowed dollar the country still owes since the days of George Washington (1789-present)...Stop and just think about that for a few moments.  Get your brain around that one and try not to reach for the Prozac or the Arsenic.

Then, as if matters were not already difficult enough concerning this juggernaut of an entitlement program, consider that the underfunded liabilities of this program increased a whopping $8.1 Trillion or over (40%) in the stroke of a pen when congress passed and President Bush signed the bill referenced above adding Part D or prescription drug coverage to the mix.  This was the most aggregious, expansion of entitlement benefits in at least a generation to that date with no close rival since LBJ signed Medicare into law in 1965 as part of his "Great Society"...And what a wonderful society this is creating as we continue to suck prosperity out of future generations at the most alarming pace in our nation's history.

In the most recent "Trustees Report" (August, 2010), it is difficult (a huge understatement) to put a finger on the most current measure of the underfunded liability.  In fact, the trustees and the actuaries disagree with a variance of only $12.3 Trillion dollars (an amount roughly equal to or at least the vast majority of the entire National Debt on today's date as noted above).  Can you imagine what the overall unfunded liability of Medicare is today give or take the variance of nearly the entire National Debt figure?  It is too astounding to event put into print...I won't be responsible for any suicides!!!

Was Medicare Part-D as fiscally irresponsible as anything that has ever been contemplated by the Federal Government (you know, the one "of the people, by the people and for the people") as we like to hallucinate.

Reform is essential, mandatory, critical and incredibly urgent.  Will you raise your voice with me to assist before we lose complete control of our finances at the national level???