Medicare’s Real Fiscal Crisis Is Much Worse than Trust Fund Insolvency - https://www.cato.org/blog/medicares-real-fiscal-crisis-much-... - October 8th, 2025 ("Medicare isn’t just facing a trust fund shortfall—it’s threatening America’s entire fiscal future. While headlines warn that the Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund2 will run out in 2033, the real danger comes from a different part of the program: Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI). SMI refers to Medicare spending by Part B (doctors’ visits and outpatient services) and Part D (prescription drugs). Unlike the HI fund, SMI is set up to take whatever it needs from taxpayers—no limits, no debate. In 2024 alone, Medicare Parts B and D financed under SMI added $498 billion straight onto the national credit card. Unless Congress makes fundamental reforms to Medicare, federal healthcare spending will drive the US toward a catastrophic fiscal crisis.")

Medicare Spending at the End of Life: A Snapshot of Beneficiaries Who Died in 2014 and the Cost of Their Care - https://www.kff.org/medicare/medicare-spending-at-the-end-of... - July 14th, 2016 ("Of the 2.6 million people who died in the U.S. in 2014, 2.1 million, or eight out of 10, were people on Medicare, making Medicare the largest insurer of medical care provided at the end of life. Spending on Medicare beneficiaries in their last year of life accounts for about 25% of total Medicare spending on beneficiaries age 65 or older. The fact that a disproportionate share of Medicare spending goes to beneficiaries at the end of life is not surprising given that many have serious illnesses or multiple chronic conditions and often use costly services, including inpatient hospitalizations, post-acute care, and hospice, in the year leading up to their death.")

This is the key - to cover the insane costs for elderly, insurance companies have had to raise costs on the healthy, which includes children.

It’s not cheap for children, but they are the future foundation of our economy.