Biden's plan for fixing Medicare: Raise taxes on Americans earning over $400,000

President Joe Biden said he has a plan to shore up the finances of Medicare, the health insurance plan for America's seniors: Raise the Medicare tax on people earning more than $400,000 to 5% from its current 3.8%. 

Biden, writing in a Tuesday guest essay in The New York Times, said the proposal would "extend the Medicare trust fund for more than another generation, an additional 25 years or more of solvency — beyond 2050." The plan will be part of his budget proposal, which will be released Thursday in Philadelphia.

The plan to bolster Medicare's financial health comes as the nation's old-age social safety net programs are increasingly under financial strain, partially as the baby boom generation is retiring in force and as the cost of health care has rapidly increased. Under current spending patterns, Medicare's Hospital Insurance trust fund will be depleted in 2028. That means that the portion of coverage which covers hospital stays and other costs will face a 10% shortfall starting in 2029.