CMS: Medicare will remain solvent

The Medicare Trustees Report released in May shows that Medicare will remain solvent longer than expected prior to passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), but challenges remain for the long term, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Expenditures for the Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund were lower than expected this year. The trustees' annual report says that Medicare's Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund is now projected to remain solvent until 2024.

Without the reforms in the PPACA, the Medicare HI Trust Fund would expire in 2016. The report shows that these reforms added 8 years of solvency, according to CMS.

Part B is funded by a combination of beneficiary premiums and general revenue financing.