Medicare's insurance trust fund expected to run out in 2026

The Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund, which covers Part A, is projected to be depleted come 2026, according to the 2021 Medicare Trustees annual report.

The depletion timeline continues to hold the same deadline the board of trustees set in 2018, which was the year it shortened the timeline by three years.  

Come 2026 when the fund is projected to be depleted, the Hospital Insurance trust fund will only be able to pay 91 percent of program costs with revenue under current law, according to the report. 

The funding shortcoming follows a projected rise in costs that is only set to worsen by the end of the report's projection period. Costs are expected to rise from 4 percent of gross domestic product to 6.2 percent by 2045, leveling off around 6.5 percent through the end of the projection period at 2095.

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