Now that Democrats are close to parity with Republicans in the House of Delegates, there is renewed talk of Medicaid expansion in Virginia. Meanwhile, in Washington, President Trump and Republicans are pushing a tax-cut plan that would spur economic growth but, even with stronger growth, would increase deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years. Nobody is talking about the $14.6 trillion national debt except as a cudgel against partisan foes. Even as Medicare, Disability, and Old Age and Survivors trust funds are projected to run out within a single generation, entitlement reform is not up for discussion.
Just a reminder… Here’s are U.S. budget deficits forecast by the Congressional Budget Office without counting proposed GOP tax cuts:
Within eight years, the U.S. will be running $1 trillion-per-year deficits every year, pretty much forever. And the CBO forecast does not take into account the likelihood of a recession or two over the next ten years, in which case deficits will metastasize.
And here’s the off-budget forecast. Payouts for Medicare hospitalization, Social Security disability and Social Security old-age programs exceed tax revenues, but interest income on the assets will keep the respective trust funds in the black for the next couple of years. By 2020, however, the off-budget numbers shift into deficit mode and plunge rapidly thereafter.
Barring major changes in U.S. spending programs or economic growth, here’s when the trust funds are expected to run out, according to Medicare and Social Security trust estimates:
- 2028: Disability trust fund runs out of money.
- 2029: Medicare hospitalization trust fund runs out of money.
- 2035: Social Security trust fund runs out of money.
Back when the Simpson-Bowles commission tackled the deficit issue in 2010 — the last time Americans thought seriously about entitlement reform — the county had 25 years before keystone social safety net programs imploded. If Congress had acted then, it could have put the trust funds into fiscal balance with relatively minor tweaks (slightly higher payroll taxes, slightly reduced benefits, slightly older retirement ages) that had a large cumulative effect over many years. But a decade of delay will require more painful sacrifices, which means they likely never will be made.
If nothing gets done until the trust funds run out of money — what I call Boomergeddon — the programs will have to cut benefits to match revenues generated. We are only twelve years from massive dislocations to the Medicare program, and 17 years from disruptions to Social Security. Baby Boomers beware, your retirement will be a lot uglier than you realize.
As for those $1 trillion+ on-budget deficits every year, they put Virginia at special risk. Any Congressional effort to tame deficits without touching entitlements will require cuts to discretionary spending, the biggest pot of which is related to defense, intelligence and homeland security…. which happens to be Virginia’s biggest industry sector. Son of Sequester will subject the Virginia economy to chronic economic stress and fiscal pain. But instead of dealing with Virginia’s long-term structural issues, the next session of the General Assembly could well consume itself in a renewed debate over expanding Medicaid.
As Americans speak no evil, see no evil, and hear no evil, we hurtle toward an era of brutal fiscal limits, broken promises to millions of Americans, and polarization and rage that will surpass anything we see today.
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