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Medicare in its current form is clearly unsustainable. This isn't rocket science — just arithmetic. A typical couple retiring last year will, on average, pay $150,000 in Medicare taxes over their lifetime, but receive more than $350,000 in benefits. As a result, the program ran a combined deficit of more than $288 billion last year. Going forward, the most optimistic scenario puts Medicare's future unfunded liabilities at more than $35 trillion. More realistic estimates suggest that the shortfall could actually exceed $90 trillion.
The question, therefore, isn't whether to reform Medicare, but how.