On Friday, the trustees overseeing Medicare issued a report projecting "that rising costs will render the Medicare trust fund for hospital care insolvent in 2024," a Los Angeles Times editorial states. "[F]ixing Medicare's hospital insurance program would require the equivalent of a 21% hike in Medicare taxes or a 17% cut in benefits," the editorial continues, adding, "When either [political] party has tried to tackle" this issue, however, "the other has responded by playing to seniors' fears instead of addressing the problem." The Times concludes that Congress "should cut the demagoguery, acknowledge the programs in [Medicare] and start debating how to solve them."