Program operations would thus be disrupted if the trust fund became exhausted.

FORBES: Medicare's Peculiar Budget Rules And The Fight Over Double Counting

The Social Security trust fund, together with payroll taxes, is sufficient to cover program benefits for more than the next 20 years.

FORBES: No, The United States Will Not Go Into A Debt Crisis, Not Now, Not Ever

The borrowing limit thus acts like the trust fund balance in Medicare Part A or Social Security, except that it allows the program to go a fixed amount into the red.

FORBES: Medicare's Peculiar Budget Rules And The Fight Over Double Counting

For example, the Medicare program currently contracts with entities to identify and collect overpayments made from the Medicare Trust Fund.

WHITEHOUSE: Deidre A. Lee Statement to House Government Management, Information and Technology Subcommittee, 06/29/1999 | The White House

Indeed, donor-advised funds, both those run by community foundations like the Trust and those affiliated with investment firms, such as the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, and the Schwab Charitable Fund, are a fine way for folks who aren't rich enough to set up their own private foundations to funnel money over time to their favorite charities.

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