Medicare Spending Is Adding to Future Deficits Faster Than Other Program Spending

Everyone wants to know more about the budget and here is some key information with a chart from the Heritage Foundation and a video from the Cato Institute.

Entitlement spending is the main cause of long-term runaway deficits. While reform must address spending within each program, Medicare is the largest driver due to the effects of an aging population and rising health care costs.

PERCENTAGE OF GDP

Source: Congressional Budget Office (Alternative Fiscal Scenario).

In Depth

• Policy Papers for Researchers

  • BACKGROUNDER ON DECEMBER 12, 2010How to Fix Medicare: A New Vision for a Better Program
  • WEBMEMO ON APRIL 15, 2011Transforming Medicare into a Modern Premium Support System: What Americans Should Know

• Technical Notes

  The charts in this book are based primarily on data available as of March 2011 from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The charts using OMB data display the historical growth of the federal government to 2010 while the charts using CBO data display both historical and projected growth from as early as 1940 to 2084. Projections based on OMB data are taken from the White House Fiscal Year 2012 budget. The charts provide data on an annual basis except… Read More

• Authors

  Emily GoffResearch Assistant
  Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy StudiesKathryn NixPolicy Analyst
  Center for Health Policy StudiesJohn FlemingSenior Data Graphics Editor