After Friday's announcement that Medicare and Social Security will become insolvent earlier than planned, the actuaries from those trust funds will speak before Washington thinks tanks today.
Medicare's chief actuary, Richard Foster, discussed this year's Medicare trustees report and participated in a discussion taking place at the American Enterprise Institute in an event titled "The 2011 Medicare Trustees Report: The Baby Boomers Tsunami."
The discussion included concerns over the addition of 40 million new Medicare enrollees over the next two decades and the long term financial outlook of the program's trust fund.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that economic conditions in recent years have shortened the life of Medicare's trust fund by nine years, while House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), has proposed measures to reform the program in light of challenges to meet future obligations for seniors.
Also at the event was Joseph Antos and Robert B. Helms from the American Enterprise Institute; Roger Feldman, University of Minnesota; and Robert Reischauer, Urban Institute.
The National Academy of Social Insurance also hosted an event featuring Stephen C. Goss, Chief Actuary, Social Security Administration, titled "What's the News in the 2011 Social Security Trustees Report?"
The event featured an explanation of the Trustees projections of Social Security's long term finances, along with a discussion on such issues as available policy choices to keep the program solvent and the impact of the economy in recent years on the Social Security trust fund.