Lieberman: Medicare Will Go Broke and ‘Take Our Government Down With It’

June 29th, 2011 1:03 PM

When unveiling a proposal to reform Medicare alongside Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) warned that the entitlement program will eventually “go broke” and lead to a “fiscal disaster” for the United States.

“Each Medicare enrollee will on the average take almost three times more out in Medicare benefits than they contribute in payroll taxes and premiums,” Lieberman said during a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday.

“That’s why we say that the status quo of Medicare is unsustainable. And what we mean is that if we do nothing, Medicare will go broke and take our government down with it.”

Senators Coburn and Lieberman claim their proposal would save more than $600 billion over 10 years and reduce Medicare’s 75-year unfunded liabilities by about $10 trillion.

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