The Wall Street Journal’s lead op-ed “Richard Foster for President” (op-ed Aug. 9) states that “Medicare’s unfunded 75-year liability has fallen to about $30.8 trillion from nearly $37 trillion in the previous audit.” As indicated in Table V.D2 of the 2010 Medicare Trustees Report, the new estimate of the unfunded liability is about $22.8 trillion, not $30.8 trillion.  The Journal’s $30.8 trillion figure apparently mistakenly includes the $7.9 trillion estimated unfunded liability for the social security retirement program (OASDI), whereas the $37 trillion figure from last year was for Medicare only.  Thus, the Trustees reported reduction in the Medicare deficit, although based on bogus assumptions, is about $14 trillion, not the $6.2 trillion reported in the WSJ op-ed.  This error notwithstanding, the main  thrust of the piece is “right on the money” and good reading.