Medicare spending, a major driver of the federal debt, is expected to jump from $522.8 billion in 2010 to $932 billion in 2020. Instead of resorting to the traditional “solutions” of raising taxes, cutting benefits, or cutting payments to health care providers, Congress should begin a two-stage structural reform of Medicare to transform the program into a robust system of consumer choice and competition. Read More.
Medicare is in deep trouble. Major change is inevitable. But major Medicare reform must address the needs of a huge and diverse generation of new retirees, not merely enhance the power of the federal bureaucracy or protect the narrow interests of politically connected providers. The Heritage proposal not only restores Medicare solvency, it also achieves a balanced budget in 10 years, and maintains it, without raising taxes. Read More.
Entitlements—Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—threaten to bankrupt the nation. The unsustainable tsunami of spending on these programs will accelerate as 77 million baby boomers flood into them. Read More.
Abstract: The great and calamitous fiscal trends of our time—dependence on government by an increasing portion of the American population, and soaring debt that threatens the financial integrity of the economy—worsened yet again in 2010 and 2011. The United States has long reached the… Read more
Abstract: The introduction of the bipartisan Wyden–Ryan premium support plan for Medicare ensures that reform of the government’s largest health entitlement program will continue to be a major topic of debate in 2012. With premium support, the federal government moves away from running a… Read more
Abstract: “Premium support” proposals to reform the Medicare program have a long and bipartisan history. The basic idea, which would provide beneficiaries with a financial contribution to purchase Medicare coverage, has been developed and refined over more than 15 years. While versions differ in… Read more
Abstract: Medicare reform is inevitable because its demands on the federal budget are unsustainable. The question is whether Congress will extend the premium support model to the rest of Medicare or pursue a radical approach that … Read more
The recent proposal by Representative Paul Ryan (R–WI) and Senator Ron Wyden (D–OR) showcases the growing, and bipartisan, agreement that premium support is the path forward for saving Medicare.[1] Premium support is a financing arrangement where the government makes a defined contribution to the health plan of an… Read more
Abstract: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued final regulations for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). The outcome is disappointing: There are marginal changes only; the final regulations retain the same flawed structure set out in… Read more
In this week's Heritage in Focus podcast, Dr. Bob Moffit discusses his new paper, "Obamacare Ends Medicare As We Know It." David Weinberger hosts. To get regular updates on Heritage in Focus podcasts, visit our RSS feed or subscribe on iTunes. To listen to more Heritage… Read more
We Need Medicare Reform, but Not Obamacare Obamacare Ends Traditional Medicare, but the Wrong Way: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed that the health law… Read more
From The Heritage Foundation, I'm Ernest Istook. … Read more
Recent drug shortages have received national attention as patients are forced to wait for vital treatments or substitute an alternative. As Congress searches for policy solutions, it is crucial that lawmakers understand the role that government price controls, specifically in Medicare, have played in the crisis. … Read more
Abstract: The number of Americans who pay taxes continues to shrink—and the United States is close to the point at which half of the population will not pay taxes for government benefits… Read more
No class of American professionals will be more negatively impacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act than physicians. Third-party payment arrangements already compromise the independence and integrity of the medical profession; Obamacare will reinforce the worst of these features.… Read more
According to surveys, no group of Americans is more skeptical of Obamacare than senior citizens[1]—and with good reason. While bits and pieces of the massive law are designed to appeal to seniors—more taxpayer subsidies for the Medicare drug benefit, for example—much of the financing… Read more
Abstract: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act substantially alters Medicare Advantage and, as a consequence, reduces the access of senior citizens and the disabled to quality health care by restricting and worsening the health care plan options available to them. Lower-income beneficiaries, Hispanics,… Read more
Fulfilling their promise to voters, the U.S House of Representatives has already taken critical steps toward full repeal of Obamacare. But Congress cannot stop at repeal. Lawmakers should also set in place an alternative that will permanently fix the broken parts of the health care sector. Unlike Obamacare, Congress should… Read more
Abstract: The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction—the “Super Committee”—created under the Budget Control Act of 2011 has failed to recommend a strategy for reducing the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next decade, leaving automatic cuts of 2 percent on… Read more
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Medicare is in deep financial trouble. The right way to make it available and affordable for future generations is not through price controls and regulation, but through a bipartisan approach, as outlined in The Heritage Foundation’s Saving the… Read more
Abstract: With Medicare facing a bleak fiscal future, and because the program is a major factor in the enormous federal deficit and long-term debt, there needs to be structural reform. The way forward is to (1) require the program to operate under a real,… Read more
When John F. Kennedy was President, just over a quarter of federal spending went to fund programs paying for some 21.7...… Read more
As budget season approaches, premium support is gaining traction as the only viable option to save Medicare. In a recent...… Read more
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Budget and Economic Outlook for years 2012 to 2022 yesterday, and as...… Read more
In this week's Heritage in Focus, expert Bob Moffit discusses how Obamacare ends Medicare as we know it. Click here to...… Read more
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a report that reviewed 10 Medicare demonstrations designed with...… Read more
Medicare patient Ann Lorenz has relied on the advice and recommendations of her neurologist, Dr. Jeffrey English,...… Read more
Dark clouds hover over the nation’s finances and threaten a perfect storm of massive debt and crushing taxation unless...… Read more
Earlier this week in New Hampshire, Republican presidential candidates touted the benefits of a Medicare premium...… Read more
Medicare is in dire need of reform. This week's chart illustrates why the entitlement program is the largest driver of...… Read more
Politics is home to some pretty exaggerated accusations, and this year was no exception, particularly in the area of...… Read more
Distinguished Fellow and Director, Center for Policy Innovation
Grover M. Hermann Senior Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs
Senior Fellow
Policy Analyst
Director, Health Policy Studies