Recent Medicare Trustees Report Shows Trust Fund Responsible for Funding Medicare Part A Will Deplet

The Board of Trustees for Medicare issued its annual report to Congress on April 22, 2019 concerning the financial operations and actuarial status of the Medicare program. Medicare benefits are funded from two separate trust funds – the Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund and the Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Fund. The HI Trust Fund funds Medicare Part A benefits while the SMI Trust Fund funds Medicare Parts B and D. The report found that the HI Trust Fund is expected to be depleted by 2026 due to inadequate financing over the next 10 years. Because the SMI Trust Fund receives income from premiums and general revenue related to voluntary Parts B and D enrollment, the SMI Fund is adequately financed. The full report can be found here.

While it is not possible to predict exactly how these findings will impact the Medicare Secondary Payer processes, it is expected that Medicare’s efforts with regard to recovering conditional payments made and ensuring Medicare Set-asides are adequately funded would remain a priority. As always, it is important to ensure that Medicare’s interests with regard to conditional payments and future medical treatment are appropriately addressed as part of settlement. We will be happy to assist you in these efforts.