Why Must We Reform Medicare? Specialists Weigh In Far from coping with the explosive costs of Medicare, the Obama Administration’s latest fiscal cliff offer is laughably inadequate.
The proposal remains stubbornly uninformed by the serious thinking of a variety of Medicare experts over the past several years. These experts—ranging from the Simpson- Bowles Commission to former CBO Director Alice Rivlin of the Brookings Institution, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)—have produced several responsible reform proposals that already hold bipartisan support. There is simply no excuse for the president or Congress to blow yet another historic opportunity to at least make an initial down-payment on the huge task of reforming the Medicare program.
Real reform is the only long-term solution that can meet Medicare's enormous challenges:- A demographic challenge. With the flood of Baby Boomers retiring, the program—unchanged—will not be able to absorb the demographic shock. Medicare enrollment will jump from nearly 50 million to 80 million seniors by 2030.
- An absence of modernized insurance. Traditional Medicare is defective as insurance, evident in the absence of even basic catastrophic coverage. Roughly 90 percent of seniors enrolled in the traditional Medicare program must depend on supplemental coverage to fill in the gaps where it falls short. Moreover, Medicare’s payment system still rewards volume rather than quality of care.
- Massive debt. Medicare’s long term unfunded liability—benefits that are not paid for—approaches $37 trillion. While current seniors paid into Medicare, they didn’t pay in enough for the benefits they now receive. This forces current taxpayers to finance 85 percent or more of Medicare’s costs.
How can we start to solve these challenges? Read on for three initial reforms to include in the fiscal cliff plan. >>
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AMERICANS ENROLLED IN CONSUMER-DIRECTED HEALTH PLANS
Likely to be negatively impacted by Obamacare. Learn More >> |
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