Human Capital Management White Papers
The Impact of Social Security and Medicare on the Federal Budget
Overview The difference between the income and expenditures credited to the trust funds of the Social Security and Medicare programs, the nation's two largest social insurance programs, is often viewed as a measure of the impact that those programs have on the financial condition of the federal government. Under the Congressional Budget Office's latest budget projections for the next 10 years, those trust funds are estimated to run sizable surpluses. However, those surpluses reflect more than an excess of dedicated revenues over spending. A substantial portion results from internal transfers between Treasury accounts - credits from the general fund of the Treasury to the trust funds. Thus, although the trust fund surpluses may accurately reflect the programs' spending authority, using them to gauge the programs' budgetary impact distorts their net effects.
| Publisher | Congressional Budget Office | File Format | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date Published | November 2002 | ||
| Format | White Papers | ||
| Topics | |||
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