Medicare’s Financial Condition: Beyond Actuarial Balance, is the Academy’s annual look at the latest Medicare Trustees Report. This issue brief, developed by the Academy’s Medicare Committee, examines the 2026 report’s findings with respect to program solvency and sustainability. The 2026 Medicare Trustees Report continues to show serious but distinct financial challenges. The Federal Hospital Insurance trust fund expenditures will exceed income starting 2027, and the trust fund is projected to be depleted in Q2 2033—one quarter earlier than last year’s estimate. Rising costs are expected to continue to strain beneficiary and federal budgets.