Cost control There are two ways the Medicare Trust Fund can get into trouble: Either the money flowing in is too little, or the payments going out for care are too much. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Everyone involved even tangentially in health care today is completely consumed by the coronavirus pandemic, as they should be. But the pandemic is accelerating a problem that used to be front and center in health circles: the impending insolvency of Medicare.

With record numbers of Americans out of work, fewer payroll taxes are rolling in to fund Medicare spending, the numbers of beneficiaries are rising, and Congress dipped into Medicare's reserves to help fund the COVID-19 relief efforts this spring.

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