Ebenezer Scrooge lived a difficult life. Abandoned at Christmas at his boarding college, Scrooge discovered to reside for himself.

This method to life led to terrific economic good results. But Scrooge was reviled and had no mates. And the future, effectively, the future was even darker.

We know all of this mainly because one particular Christmas Eve Scrooge was visited by 3 specters. 1 his previous, one particular his present and the final his future.

What scared him the most was his future. So, he asked the ghostly specter, was this future set in stone, or could it be changed?

Our nation’s future appears burdened by the increasing charges of entitlements. Social Safety, Medicare, and Medicaid will have to have to be funded by a shrinking base of workers.

Sign up for our no cost weekday Enterprise newsletter

So, we ask, is this future set in stone, or can it be changed? There are lots of policy wonks sounding the alarm on entitlements. There have also been some politicians.

I say “have been,” as in the previous tense, mainly because ideal now these politicians are operating from their previous words.

In his State of the Union address, President Biden mentioned some Republicans wanted to reduce Social Safety and Medicare. This was promptly met with a shout of “liar” and numerous attempts to appear shocked and disgusted.

This show suggests that Social Safety appears to be the third rail of politics. And but, with no transform, the specters have shown us what the future appears like.

President Biden himself has recommended one particular transform. Wage earners spend six.two% of their incomes to social safety and 1.45% to Medicare. Their employers do the very same.

Self-employed folks spend 12.four% and two.9% of their earnings for the very same trigger. Each varieties of earners do not have to have to spend the six.two% or 12.four% above an earnings limit.

The president has recommended eliminating the earnings limit. He crossed his heart and hoped to die if he raised taxes on these earnings much less than $400,000, so this added tax would apply only when earnings exceed $400,000.

This creates a “donut hole.” The tax ends at a particular level of earnings, and then returns at $400,000. “Hole” earnings are exempt.

But this would nonetheless be a six.two% or 12.four% tax raise for higher earners. That may perhaps be a second third rail.

Other folks have recommended raising the eligibility age for Medicare, and the “full” retirement age for Social Safety. Soon after all, they say, folks are living longer.

Turns out that not too long ago, Americans have not been living longer. And the Medicare get started age may perhaps be increasingly essential offered challenges to locating reasonably priced well being care.

But we need to do some thing! 1 method that gets surprisingly small interest outdoors of feel tanks is bending the curve on well being care charges.

Politicians like to inform us that the United States has the greatest well being care method in the planet. The truth is that it does not. Americans get reduce good quality heath care at larger charges than the rest of the created planet.

Projections of a bankrupt Medicare and Medicaid assume no transform in the future development of charges. Altering this assumption is a prospective game changer.

There is some thing known as the rule of 72. By dividing 72 by a development price, one particular can ballpark how lengthy it requires for some thing to double in worth.

If well being care expense grows at eight% per year, it doubles in 9 years (72/9). That suggests quadruple in 18 years and development to 16 instances in 36 years.

At development of six% per year it will double in 12 years and develop by eight instances in 36 years. A development of four% will double in 18 years and quadruple in 36 years.

So if we project well being care entitlement charges out 36 years, the development in expense can variety from 4 instances present charges to 16 instances just by altering the annual development assumption from four% to eight%.

What can America do to halve the annual raise in well being care charges? The potential to answer this query may perhaps be the distinction in between a solvent Medicare and a Scroogian disaster.

The greatest beneficiary of Scrooge’s changed heart was not Scrooge himself, it was Tiny Tim. Possibly some inventive options to our future well being care charges can save lots of far more.

Jim Hamill is the director of Tax Practice at Reynolds, Hix &amp Co. in Albuquerque. He can be reached at jimhamill@rhcocpa.com.