Reform Medicare, Sustain It Long Term The editorial board of The Washington Post, no organ of conservative opinion, is absolutely right: “Medicare as we know it is not sustainable,” and the “ultimate solution” is structural reform. Bingo.
The right structural reform is to expand Medicare’s defined-contribution financing (routinely called “premium support”) as it broadly exists today in Medicare Part D to the entire Medicare program.
As the Post’s editors observe, consensus does not yet exist on Capitol Hill for comprehensive structural reform. However, there are several short-term, bipartisan proposals compatible with structural reform that can improve the program, trim the debt, and reduce the dangerous financial pressures that threaten Medicare’s viability.
The Post’s key recommendations—yielding an estimated 10-year savings of $420 billion—largely track The Heritage Foundation’s proposed changes for traditional Medicare as part of its comprehensive budgetary reform proposal, Saving the American Dream. Among their key proposals:
- Gradually raise Part B premiums from 25 percent to 35 percent of total program costs.
- Streamline Medicare’s cost-sharing rules and restructure Medi-gap coverage.
- Add a 10 percent co-payment for every 60-day episode of home health care.
Discover what else the President and Congress should do. >>
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 | | | |  | $716 Billion
TAKEN OUT OF MEDICARE TO PAY FOR NEW SPENDING IN OBAMACARE
This directly affects the quantity and quality of the benefits available. Learn More >> |
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