The credit score for the U.S. is not looking too hot. Our top rating was downgraded in 2011 by Standard & Poor’s, in 2023 by Fitch, and most recently in May 2025 by Moody’s.

Moody’s cited that:

Successive U.S. administrations and Congress have failed to agree on measures to reverse the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs. We do not believe that material multi-year reductions in mandatory spending and deficits will result from current fiscal proposals under consideration.

We’re letting our debt rise out of control. In FY 2024, the national debt was $35T while GDP was only $29 trillion. Our debt-to-GDP ratio of 123% is way more than the 32% that we had in 1981. We are set to outspend our revenues by $1.9 trillion in FY 2025. Interest payments amount to nearly $3 billion per day. As divided as we are now, 84% of Americans agree that solving the national debt crisis should be a priority, up from 45% three years ago.

Are we taking any measures to solve this crisis?

Revenue from new tariffs has not been enough so far, and federal courts have not been supportive.

DOGE also hasn’t made meaningful strides. They claimed that they saved $180 billion, but the accuracy of their figures has been questioned. Despite significant federal downsizing, Elon Musk has left and their initiatives are winding down. DOGE’s workforce cuts could cost $135 billion.

The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed by Congress this month cut Medicaid, Medicare, and welfare spending; however, according to some economists, the extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act could add $4 trillion to the deficit.

There are folks counting on a faster-growing economy reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio with AI, technology, and infrastructure investments. They count on more companies and production moving back to the U.S. I don’t doubt that these results are possible, but it likely won’t be enough.

I have yet to hear anything on the table that can sustainably cut down on our national debt. The date when the government can no longer meet its financial obligations without raising the debt ceiling may arrive as early as August or September 2025.

This is not what our founding fathers would have wanted. Ben Franklin said, “[I would] rather go to bed without dinner than to rise in debt.” Thomas Jefferson said, “There does not exist an engine so corruptive of the government and so demoralising of the nation as a public debt.”

Does it send a good message to the public when our own government consistently can’t pay its own debts? Is it a shock that credit card debt has been reaching record highs, at $1.2 trillion nationally and an average of $8,940 per household?

Apart from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are the largest federal programs, and they are primary drivers of the U.S. ‘s expanding debt crisis.

Back in 1965, many thought that the government should ensure that marginalized folks had health care coverage. A noble cause. It has encouraged me to work for Medicaid for three-plus years. But the situation today is not inspiring. Nearly half of the U.S. population is on either Medicare or Medicaid. In FY 2024, $839 billion was spent on Medicare, and $588 billion was spent on Medicaid. The latter figure just represents the federal match spending; the total state share was about $326 billion, so total Medicaid spending was around $914 billion. Including additional subsidies of $398 billion, $2.2 trillion was spent on programs that provide health coverage.

The recent controversial cuts to Medicare and Medicaid beg the question: what if there was a new and better way forward for U.S. health care? If we want to improve the country’s credit score, I suggest we look beyond the antiquated systems of Medicare and Medicaid and adopt a more sustainable health system.