Not only is (Medicare) facing the same demographic upheaval, it’s also coping with the harsh fluctuations of healthcare costs, which are not set, under current models, to stabilize like the senior population. Volatility in the healthcare market, and the more complex nature of these calculations, noted Robert Bixby of the bipartisan, pro-balanced budget Concord Coalition, means that projections on the durability of the program’s trust fund jump around more. . . .
A less functional Congress, like the one we have now, might favor a relatively painless short-term quick fix, said Bixby. They could, he explained, “just create resources for the trust fund. Say, ‘the trust fund shall be solvent for ten years and here are the bonds to do it,’ period… I don’t think a gimmicky solution like that would be a real solution” to entitlement programs’ long-term financial issues. “But I don’t doubt that Congress could do it.”