Medicare report to fuel US budget debate

WASHINGTON - A financial assessment of two popular US government programs for the elderly on Friday will likely reflect the impact of aging baby boomers and a slow economy, fueling debate over how they can be sustained.

The report on the Medicare healthcare and Social Security retirement programs will show the recession and job losses hit the two programs hard and that will likely be reflected in key dates showing when the trust funds, particularly for Medicare, become exhausted.

"If the insolvency date for the hospital insurance trust fund does move up quite a number of years, that will clearly be grist for Republican critics," said Paul Van de Water, a senior fellow at the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.