Why Are Economists Concerned About Medicare? 
That is an excellent question ! The eventual collapse of Medicare and Medicaid has more than just economists worried . And I said eventual collapse , since I believe that it is much more likely that our current Government philosophy of income disparity politics will continue to prevent any kind of significant reform or refunding of those programs . Without overhauling , the system is predicted to bankrupt in 2024 . The Affordable Care Act -LRB- Obamacare -RRB- created a series of fat trimming cuts that in theory will add 5 years to the life of the programs . As of the 2012 Census statistics , 55 % of all seniors are currently at poverty level , and the statistics suggest that further cuts in just food stamps will double the currently 15 % of Americans living in poverty -LRB- 46.5 million households , and that number is woefully under estimated , as the formula for computing it is still based on 1963 data - bet you ca n't find a gallon of milk , or gas for what you paid in 1963 -RRB- . Jared Bernstein , a noted economist , calculates that the poverty rate will increase nearly 500 % when SSI tanks in 2030 . Now imagine the financial hardship on our Seniors , and our economy , when their medical expenses ca n't be paid for either . Something has to give , or we 'll be seeing our parents and grandparents out on the streets , or not at all . An interesting statistic ? 50 % of Americans combined own what the top 30 individual Americans do - $ 793 billion dollars . 47 % of Americans own nothing , their debt is equal to or greater than their assets . I 've been very blessed , God has been good to me and my family , but I 'm worried , and if you have parents or grandparents , you should be too , as millions of folks depend on it . Thanks for asking ! 