Under the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, the Medicare Trustees are required to estimate the year in which general revenues will exceed 45 percent or more of total Medicare spending. If, in two consecutive years, the trustees project the 45 percent level will be reached within the next seven years, they are required to issue a Medicare funding warning – which they did last April.
The Kaiser Family Foundation hosts a policy workshop examining the so-called "45 percent trigger" and its implications for this year’s budget debate and Medicare's long-term fiscal health.
