Health Reform Hub Issues

Issues :: Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP

The Myth of Medicare’s “Low Administrative Costs”

Avik Roy


Forbes, 06/30/11

Many people wrongly believe that Medicare is more efficient than private insurance; that view was often stated by champions of Obamacare during the debate preceding the law’s enactment. These advocates argued that Medicare’s administrative costs — the money it spends on expenses other than patient care — are just 3% of total costs, compared to 15% to 20% in the case of private, employer-sponsored insurance. But these figures are highly misleading, for several reasons.
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Klein’s F on Part D 
James C. Capretta


National Review Online, 06/21/11

At the time of its enactment in 2003, the Medicare drug benefit — known as Medicare Part D — had many critics. Some said the program, which is built on consumer choice and vigorous competition among private plans, wouldn’t work, because the private plans would decline to participate without a guaranteed share of the market. Others said the beneficiaries wouldn’t sign up for the voluntary benefit, because the competitive structure would be too complex to navigate. Still others said the program would explode in costs without government-imposed price controls.
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States Need Tools to Stem Medicaid's Red Ink
Grace-Marie Turner

The Daily Caller, 05/24/11 

This week, Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC), Tom Coburn (R-OK), and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) introduced legislation to reform Medicaid by giving states more flexibility and control and creating new incentives to improve the quality of care in the program. They start by giving governors their first request -- repealing the maintenance of effort requirement that forces them to keep Medicaid enrollment high even as health spending is squeezing other state services. Their "Medicaid Improvement and State Empowerment Act" would give "health grants" to states to provide coverage for low-income Americans and give states more flexibility to provide care that suits the needs and resources of their states and not the dictates of Washington bureaucrats.   Read more...

Republicans and Mediscare 
The Wall Street Journal, 05/23/11

Underneath Newt Gingrich's rhetoric last week about Paul Ryan's "right-wing social engineering" was a common anxiety about the politics of Medicare: Is this the right moment for entitlement reform? Did the GOP endanger its House majority by giving Democrats a campaign strategy for 2012, and is Mr. Ryan's proposal really too "radical" after all?  Read more...

Next Steps on Medicare Reform Now
Mark B. McClellan

The Hill, 05/20/11

While there is broad agreement that we can no longer afford a delay in addressing the quality and cost challenges facing Medicare and our health system, differences on views about the solution run deep. Supporters of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) emphasize further steps in reforming traditional Medicare payments and in how healthcare is regulated, while critics of the legislation emphasize more choice, flexibility and responsibility for patients. My own belief is that major steps in both provider and consumer reforms are needed to work together to support better care at a lower cost — real healthcare reform.   Read more...

A Prescription to Fix Medicare
Michael O. Leavitt

The Washington Post, 05/20/11

The warnings from the global market are steely-eyed and dispassionate: Standard & Poor’s downgraded its outlook on the U.S. debt last month, signaling the rating agency’s willingness to downgrade the creditworthiness of the United States. The U.S. government admits it is now using gimmicks and sleight of hand to stay under its statutory debt limit. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner diplomatically characterized the recent steps as “extraordinary” measures. What happens if U.S. debt becomes less appealing to bond buyers around the world?   Read more...

Sweeping Overhaul Will Save Medicare
Grace-Marie Turner

The Sacramento Bee, 05/19/11 

The escalating political debate about the future of Medicare reveals a fear of change coupled with the growing recognition that change is essential to sustain the program for the future. Medicare is facing $38 trillion in red ink. The recent Medicare Trustees report showed the program is careening toward bankruptcy and will run out of money in 2024 - five years faster than the trustees predicted just one year ago. And to make it worse, the chief actuary for Medicare, Richard Foster, issued a dissenting opinion to the report, explaining that even those dire predictions are based upon politically unrealistic spending cuts that neither he nor anyone else expects to happen.   Read more...

Gingrich to House GOP: Drop Dead
The Wall Street Journal, 05/17/11

The Republican Presidential campaign is off to a slow start, but judging by the last week not slow enough. First Mitt Romney defends his ObamaCare prototype in Massachusetts, and now Newt Gingrich has decided to run against House Republicans on Medicare. They must be loving this at the White House. Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday about Paul Ryan's reform plan, Mr. Gingrich chose to throw his former allies in the GOP House not so much under the bus as off the Grand Canyon rim.    Read more...

Saving Chairman Ryan
Alice Rivlin

The American Square, 05/16/11

Has Paul Ryan killed a promising bipartisan approach to Medicare reform—premium support—by presenting it in a form unacceptable to most Democrats (including me) and many Republicans? Ryan’s critics correctly argue that his version of premium support, passed by House Republicans, would ultimately end traditional Medicare and likely cause many seniors to pay considerably more for health care than the current system.   Read more...

Ten Myths of Ryan’s House Budget Plan
Brian Riedl , Robert Moffit, Ph.D., and Romina Boccia

The Heritage Foundation, 05/13/11

Runaway spending and deficits continue to grow unabated in part because any attempts to rein them in are relentlessly demagogued by defenders of big government. The latest example is the budget recently authored by House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) and passed by the House of Representatives. Most critics have failed to provide any credible alternative to the House budget. Yet that has not stopped them from relentlessly misrepresenting the House budget with the following myths.   Read more...