Three trust funds are projected to face insolvency during President Donald Trump’s time in office over the next eight years if he is reelected, according to an analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
According to Congressional Budget Office projections, the Social Security disability insurance trust fund, the highway trust fund, and the Medicare hospital insurance trust fund are all expected to become insolvent in the next eight years.
The Social Security disability insurance trust fund is expected to be insolvent by 2023 and will experience a $175 billion shortfall through 2027.
Spending for the highway trust fund will total $58 billion in 2022 while only taking in $40 billion in revenue, putting the fund in insolvency.
Finally, the Medicare hospital insurance trust fund, which covers services like inpatient hospital care, lab tests, surgery, and skilled nursing facilities, is expected to run out by 2025. The fund will experience a shortfall of roughly $200 billion through 2027.
In addition to these three programs, the Social Security old-age and survivors insurance trust fund is projected to be insolvent in the next 15 years—by 2030 or 2031. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the trust-fund balance will decline from where it stands now at $2.8 trillion to $1.4 trillion by 2027.
The committee says that while these deadlines for insolvency are quickly approaching, there are opportunities for the president and Congress to reform them. "These obstacles represent fiscal challenges but also opportunities to make the trust funds more financially secure, help make our debt sustainable, and improve the functioning of highway programs, Social Security and Medicare," the committee stated. "Both the new president and Congress should ensure adequate long-term financing for these trust funds by making changes to the programs involved or their revenue sources."
The White House did not respond to requests for comment by press time.