Opinion

Medicare is one of America’s greatest successes — and a fiscal time bomb

Trustees have issued a formal Medicare funding warning nine years running, but no remedial legislation has ever been enacted

By Carolyn Bordeaux Fox News

Published July 31, 2026 7:00am EDT

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Anniversaries are a time to celebrate accomplishments. They are also a time to take stock. As Medicare turns 61 this month, we should do both.

Start with the celebration, because it is deserved. When Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law on July 30, 1965, only about half of Americans over 65 had hospital insurance and nearly a third lived in poverty. Growing old in this country carried a real risk of being sick and broke at the same time. Today, coverage for older Americans is essentially universal, and 69 million people depend on the program. It is one of the most successful things our government has ever done — and I say that as someone who spends most of my working hours cataloging things our government does badly.

Now the taking stock, which is harder. Medicare has two major problems: the part of Medicare that can run out of money is about to, and the part that can't is quietly taking over the federal budget.

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