Smart Retirement Savings

Medicare Is $32 TRILLION In the Red

It is alarming to know Medicare is even a bigger financial problem than social security. Who will pay for my healthcare in my golden years?

If you think the Social Security debacle is Washington's #1 retirement nightmare, I've got news for you: Medicare is so sick, it makes Social Security look healthy by comparison

According to the annual trustees' reports on Social Security and Medicare, Medicare now owes a staggering $32.1 trillion more than it will be able to pay.

That's nearly seven times the Social Security deficit ... three times our nation's entire Gross Domestic Product and three times the national debt (now at $11.3 trillion according to the Fed's mid-year numbers).

The truth about Medicare is so disturbing -- and any solution so unreachable -- very few in Washington will even talk about it in public. In this year's mid-term election campaigns for Congress, for example, I see no one making it a pivotal issue. And at the White House -- even at the Medicare administration itself -- I see no one raising voices of alarm.

But the facts don't lie: The new Medicare prescription drug program is adding an anticipated $678 billion over the next ten years in new spending. The cost of doctor visits, medical tests, prescriptions and hospital procedures is exploding by double digits each year. High-cost, chronic illnesses like heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's are reaching epidemic levels.

Result: Either Medicare will ultimately bankrupt the U.S. Government. Or the U.S. Government will have to slash Medicare benefits to the bone.