The Medicare Ponzi Scheme

By Eric Novack in the Health Care blog Just today, our next President spoke out against the largest investment swindle in US history. The alleged behavior of Bernard Madoff may have cost investors up to $50 billion. What did Madoff do? He lured investors with big returns, and used the "profits" as a means to encourage additional investment by investors, while luring new ones. The only problem is he was using the new money to pay off the old investments. And when current investors asked to redeem their shares, there was no money left. The whole scheme was a sham. Which brings us to Medicare. When you hear about "unfunded liabilities"—insert the phrase "Ponzi scheme." How much is Medicare’s unfunded liability? Adding up Medicare Part A, Part B, and Part D ... $85 trillion Let’s make this even simpler. To meet the obligations "promised" to Medicare current and future recipients — that is how much would need to be in the bank today. There is zero difference between the promises made by Madoff and those made by elected officials of both parties on Medicare. Anyone want to consider whether the new administration or the Republican minority will use the same language that President-elect Obama used today to describe the Medicare system?