Medicare Insurance Trust Fund Data for 2010 and 2011

Politicians and the mainstream media rarely provide links to comprehensive studies that allow citizens to make informed decisions regarding national insurance programs like Social Security or Medicare. 



Please note that I did not refer to these programs as "entitlement programs."  American workers have deductions taken from their wages for their entire working life in order to pay for Hospital and Supplemental Medical Insurance benefits. Employers also contribute funds to both programs for employees.  


The Hospital Insurance (HI) and Supplemental Medical Insurance (SMI) programs have separate trust funds, sources of revenue, and categories of expenditures. Table II.B1 presents Medicare data for calendar year 2010, in total and for each part of the program. The largest category of HI expenditures is inpatient hospital services, while the largest SMI expenditure categories are physician services and prescription drugs. Payments to private health plans for providing Part A and Part B services currently represent about one-fourth of total A and B benefit outlays.


Table II.B1.—Medicare Data for Calendar Year 2010

Table II.B1.—Medicare Data for Calendar Year 2010 SMI
HI or Part A		Part B		Part D		Total
Assets at end of 2009 (billions)	$304.2		$75.5		$1.1		$380.8
Total income	$215.6		$208.8		$61.7		$486.0
Payroll taxes	182.0		—		—		182.0
Interest	13.8		3.1		0.0		16.9
Taxation of benefits	13.8		—		—		13.8
Premiums	3.3		52.0		6.5		61.8
General revenue	0.1		153.5		51.1		204.7
Transfers from States	—		—		4.0		4.0
Other	2.7		0.2		—		2.9
Total expenditures	$247.9		$212.9		$62.0		$522.8
Benefits	244.5		209.7		61.7		515.8
Hospital	136.1		31.9		—		168.0
Skilled nursing facility	26.9		—		—		26.9
Home health care	7.0		12.1		—		19.1
Physician fee schedule services	—		64.5		—		64.5
Private health plans (Part C)	60.7		55.2		—		115.9
Prescription drugs	—		—		61.7		61.7
Other	13.8		46.1		—		59.9
Administrative expenses	$3.5		$3.2		$0.4		$7.0
Net change in assets	−$32.3		−$4.1		−$0.4		−$36.8
Assets at end of 2010	$271.9		$71.4		$0.7		$344.0
Enrollment (millions)
Aged	39.2		36.7		n/a		39.6
Disabled	7.9		7.1		n/a		7.9
Total	47.1		43.8		34.5		47.5
Average benefit per enrollee	$5,187		$4,786		$1,789		$11,762

Notes: 1. Totals do not necessarily equal the sums of rounded components.
2. “n/a” indicates data are not available.
For HI, the primary source of financing is the payroll tax on covered earnings. Employers and employees each pay 1.45 percent of wages, while self-employed workers pay 2.9 percent of their net income. Starting in 2013, high-income workers will pay an additional 0.9 percent tax on their earnings above an unindexed threshold ($200,000 for single taxpayers and $250,000 for married couples). Other HI revenue sources include a portion of the Federal income taxes that people pay on their Social Security benefits, as well as interest paid on the U. S. Treasury securities held in the HI trust fund.


Link to 2011 Medicare Trust Fund Report