Why Are Economists Concerned About Medicare? 
There 's a reason they call economics the `` dismal science '' , it often tells us things we would prefer to ignore . There has been concern about the financial viability of Medicare for decades and while there has been some tinkering around the edges , the politics associated with Medicare -LRB- senior citizens tend to vote -RRB- have so far prevented any far reaching overhaul . Our current concerns come from people living much longer now than when Medicare was created so some of the basic actuarial assumptions of the program are outmoded . Then you have the front end of theBaby Boom generation just entering into Medicare eligibility which will result in swelling enrollment in Medicare for decades to come . Finally , you have the number of actively employed persons paying Medicare taxes becoming a smaller and smaller ratio to the number of people claiming benefits . Oh , yes , and if you have n't noticed , the base cost of virtually all health care services continues to rise faster than the general inflation rate . So , you have more people enrolling and using the benefits for increasingly expensive care while at the same time you have a smaller pool of payers to financially support the current and upcoming enrollees . This is why many economists warn of the financial failure of Medicare if structural changes are not made to the program . 