Medicare's long-term finances strained by pressures of aging population, economy

News outlets preview pieces of the annual report due out later today from the trustees who oversee Medicare and Social Security.

The Associated Press: Aging Workforce Strains Social Security, Medicare
An aging population and an economy that has been slow to rebound are straining the long-term finances of Social Security and Medicare, the government's two largest benefit programs. Those problems are getting new attention Monday as the trustees who oversee the massive programs release their annual financial reports. Medicare is in worse shape than Social Security because of rising health care costs. But both programs are on a path to become insolvent in the coming decades, unless Congress acts, according to the trustees (Ohlemacher, 4/23).

In related Medicare news -

USA Today: Government Says Medicare Will Save $200 Billion Through 2016
The government plans to announce today that the 2010 health care law will save Medicare beneficiaries $208 billion through 2020, and save Medicare itself $200 billion through 2016, based on a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services actuary report (Kennedy, 4/23).

KHN's coverage of the 2011 Medicare report: Gloomier-Than-Expected Forecast For Medicare (Galewitz and Carey, 5/13/11).