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June 28, 2012
$84 trillion.
"That is the unfunded liability of Medicare," Fisher said.I quickly ran the math and realized this was almost $300,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States, including my wife, my five kids, and me. I was stunned. -- Why Congress Doesn’t Work | The American Conservative
Posted by gerardvanderleun at June 28, 2012 6:42 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
That was yesterday. Today, you need to throw-in Obamacare.
Doomed, I tell you. Doomed.
Posted by: Fat Man at June 28, 2012 9:40 PM
$300,000 is about what you can expect to pay for medical care over your lifetime until you reach retirement. Then all bets are off. Old people really consume medical care.
The $84T is a small part of the total shortfall. The total commitments in all fed programs exceed revenue by $200T.
These numbers do not reflect bad tax policy or reckless entitlement promises. They do reflect the reality of the economic needs of our aging population. These needs would exist without any entitlements. The only real question is how to fund them.
Posted by: bob sykes at June 29, 2012 3:47 AM
Sykes, forget it. The retired bunch are better capitalized than the rest of the population. Get rid of insurance and charge for health care via the gross income on the 1040.
Maybe you're not old enough to remember doctors charging families by what they could pay.
Cash is always king as it circumvents the government/insurance paperwork.
I go to the VA for my health care. That's called pre-paid medical and it was very expensive.
FYI, I'm 69 years old.
Posted by: Peccable at June 29, 2012 4:18 AM