Ah, This Could Be A Problem

But don't worry, be happy.

The trust fund for Social Security will be depleted in 2040, and Medicare will exhaust its trust fund reserves just 12 years from now, trustees for the programs said Monday.

Their annual report showed deterioration in the financial condition of both of the government's two largest benefit programs.

A year ago, the depletion of the Social Security trust fund had been projected to occur in 2041 and the Medicare hospital insurance fund in 2020.

The trustees, who include the head of the Social Security Administration and three members of President Bush's Cabinet, painted a sober assessment of the health of the two programs in advance of the looming retirements of 78 million baby boomers.

"We do not believe the currently projected long-run growth rates of Social Security or Medicare are sustainable under current financing arrangements," the trustees said in this year's report.

Bush's efforts last year to overhaul Social Security went nowhere in Congress. Even members of his own party refused to support the benefit cuts that would have accompanied the establishment of private accounts for younger workers.