According to the most-recent estimates by government officials, the recession-plagued trust funds that support the US Social Security and Medicare system – which respectively offer pensions and health care for the elderly – are likely to run out of finances much earlier than anticipated.

Specifically speaking, the estimates indicate that the already insufficient Medicare trust fund, which makes allowances for hospital care, will be exhausted by 2017, two years earlier than previously projected; while social security funds for pensions will become insolvent by 2037, four years earlier than predictions made previously.

The projected insolvency of both the programs indicates that they are heading towards a financial crunch largely because of the mounting joblessness; thereby underlining an escalated urgency with regard to the need for health care reform.

Since both Social Security and Medicare are funded through a tax taken from wages – the tax is paid by employees and their employers -, a whopping figure of 5.7 million job-losses since December 2007 is a sure sign that fewer workers are paying into the two programs. Moreover, programs are also strained because of the mounting health-care costs, which are outpacing the overall growth rate of the economy.

In their prepared statement pertaining to the financial condition of both the programs, the program trustees said: “The financial difficulties facing Social Security and Medicare pose serious challenges.”