DEFICIT OF $4.2 BILLION FOR '96 REPORTED IN FUND FOR MEDICARE.Byline: The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times The Medicare trust fund that pays hospital bills for the elderly spent $4.2 billion more than it received in taxes and other income in the last fiscal year, the Clinton administration Noun 1. Clinton administration - the executive under President Clinton executive - persons who administer the law reported Monday. And it is expected to run larger deficits in coming years. By contrast, the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund lost just $36 million in the prior year and had previously run a substantial surplus for more than a decade. The trust fund was clearly losing money but the size of the deficit was unknown until Monday. Democrats and Republicans said the data showed a need to shore up Medicare. Rep. Pete Stark Fortney Hillman "Pete" Stark, Jr. (born November 11, 1931) is an American politician from the state of California. A Democrat, he has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1973, in three different districts (due to redistricting). of Fremont, Calif., the ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means WAYS AND MEANS. In legislative assemblies there is usually appointed a committee whose duties are to inquire into, and propose to the house, the ways and means to be adopted to raise funds for the use of the government. This body is called the committee of ways and means. Subcommittee sub·com·mit·tee n. A subordinate committee composed of members appointed from a main committee. subcommittee Noun on Health, said: ``We must take bipartisan action in the next Congress to extend the life of the Medicare trust fund. This should be the first thing on the agenda of the Ways and Means Committee in January, no matter who has the majority in Congress.'' The $4.2 billion deficit represents the difference between two huge numbers: outlays Outlays Payments on obligations in the form of cash, checks, the issuance of bonds or notes, or the maturing of interest coupons. of $127.7 billion and receipts of $123.5 billion. It was covered by a surplus accumulated over the years. Rep. Bill Archer, the Archer, The, English name for Sagittarius, a constellation. Texas Republican who is chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said the $4.2 billion loss was ``the largest financial drop in the history of the Medicare program, with the exception of a one-time transfer from Medicare to Social Security in 1983.'' Congress ordered that transfer to keep Social Security solvent. ``The only solution to the Medicare crisis is a bipartisan one,'' Archer said. ``That's why our nation will live to regret the fearful and misleading campaign the Democrats have waged over Medicare this fall.'' Monday's report was surprising in several respects. Just a few months ago, the Clinton administration predicted that the hospital trust fund would lose $8.2 billion in fiscal year 1996, which ended Sept. 30; the actual deficit was much smaller. The trust fund often loses money in September, but showed a gain of $1.8 billion last month. Indeed, the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund did not lose money in the final six months of the fiscal year, taken together. It lost $4.2 billion in the first half of the year, and its condition did not deteriorate de·te·ri·o·rate v. 1. To grow worse in function or condition. 2. To weaken or disintegrate. further. The balance in the trust fund fluctuated, but the outlays equaled taxes and other income over the past six months, so there was no net change in the trust fund. Chris Jennings, a White House aide who coordinates health policy for Clinton, said: ``The increase in health care expenditures appears to have slowed with improvements in the economy.'' |
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