
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 4, 1995                   TAG: 9504040094
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

MEDICARE HOSPITAL FUND'S PROGNOSIS BLEAK, TRUSTEES SAY

Without action, the Medicare hospital trust fund will go bankrupt in 2002 and Social Security's old age and disability funds will run out of cash in 2030, the programs' trustees told Congress on Monday.

Both dates are a year later than previous forecasts. Despite the slight improvement in Medicare's short-term health, its long-term outlook ``remains extremely unfavorable,'' the trustees said.

They called for ``prompt, effective and decisive action'' to shore up the Medicare fund that pays hospital bills for 32 million elderly Americans and 4 million disabled workers.

But the trustees, including secretaries of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services and the commissioner of Social Security, shied away from offering any specific remedies. They urged Congress to re-establish an advisory board to help chart Medicare's recovery.

The Medicare fund, under the latest forecast, will run out in 2002 - one year later than the trustees predicted last April. The precarious state of the fund ``illustrates again the need for reform of the health care system to reduce the rate of growth in spending,'' HHS Secretary Donna Shalala said.

The separate Social Security old age and disability funds will last until 2030, one year later than the forecast of a year ago.

All of the programs are in the red over the 75-year period covered in the trustees' report.

by CNB