THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release March 30, 2000



MEDICARE TRUSTEES' REPORT SHOWS UNPRECEDENTED PROGRESS UNDER THE CLINTON-GORE ADMINISTRATION BUT MAJOR CHALLENGES REMAIN
March 30, 2000

Today, the Medicare Trustees projected that the life of the Medicare Trust Fund has been extended until 2023 -- 8 years longer than had been projected last year. This is a historic change from 1993 when the President came into office and received the Trustees report projecting that Medicare would become insolvent in 1999. In welcoming this news, the President highlighted the Administration's stewardship of Medicare which has resulted in the longest Medicare Trust Fund solvency in a quarter century and premiums that are nearly 20 percent lower today than projected in 1993. He pointed out, however, that Medicare still faces daunting demographic and health challenges. It is projected to become insolvent in the middle of the retirement of the baby boom generation. And, unlike virtually every private health plan, Medicare still does not cover outpatient prescription drugs. The President also emphasized his comprehensive plan to make Medicare more competitive and efficient; modernize its benefits including adding a voluntary prescription drug benefit; and dedicating part of the on-budget surplus to meeting the future financial shortfall. Based on preliminary analysis, these policies are projected to extend the life of Medicare beyond 2030. The President's Medicare plan is part of his fiscally disciplined framework to strengthen Social Security, invest in key priorities, and pay off the debt held by the public by 2013.

MEDICARE IS MUCH STRONGER BUT FACES UNPRECEDENTED DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES

PRESIDENT'S PLAN TO STRENGTHEN AND MODERNIZE MEDICARE. The President's FY2001 budget dedicates $432 billion over 10 years -- over half of the on-budget surplus -- to strengthen and modernize Medicare to prepare it for the health, demographic, and financing challenges of the 21st Century, extending its solvency to at least 2030. This plan would:

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