Yes I have read that Medicare is in even more trouble than Social Security and could use up its surplus by 2017 or 2019. The exact dates are in the same report by the SSA. I don't think I was being too alarmist, I just pointed out the fact that America is becoming an older society as a whole and as some commenters pointed out people are having less children by choice so there will be less people funding the system. I do think the 12.4% deduction is pretty egregious even though half of it comes from the employer. The way the system is set up, it seems that that tax percentage will go up, and not down.

 Another thing is that I think the age cap for full retirement benefits is a bit too high right now.  It is 67 years old and the average person lives to 77 to 80.  So basically a person could be potentially paying into Social Security for 45 years  and enjoy it for 10 years.  I'm not sure the math works out very well there, either.