Published in : San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, March 31, 2000, p. A3:

Boom Economy Adds Extra Years to Solvency of Programs.

Associated Press

W ashington - "Thanks to the stong economy, Medicare will have an additional eight years, until 2023, before cash runs short to pay benefits to aging Baby Boomers. And Social Security will remain financially healthy an extra three years, until 2037, trustees of the programs said yesterday.

In recent years, a looming financial crunch had prompted a frenzy of reform ideas. But even before yesterday's report, the prospects for fundamental Medicare and Social Security changes this election year were dim, with members of Congress loath to compromise.

This is the third consecutive year that both Social Security and Medicare have shown improvement in their long-range financial outlook.

For Medicare, it was the best report card in 25 years. The health insurance program for the elderly and disabled had been projected to run short of cash in 2001, lending urgency to lawmakers' struggle over historic legislation to balance the federal budget in 1997.

Last year, trustees reported that the date had been improved to 2015. It was moved to 2033 in this newest estimate.

Meanwwhile, the date when Social Security will exhaust its Trust Fund was moved to 2037, back three years from last year's estimate of 2034. The trustees had pushed it off by two years in 1999 and three in 1998, from 2029.

The brightened prospects came despite action by the trustees this year that increased assumptions about how fast Americans' life expectancy will increase in coming decades. The booming economy more than made up for that change.

Contributing economic factors included the lowest unemployment rate in 30 years. With more Americans working, more are also paying the payroll taxes that support the two programs."