Bush, Congress Should Seek To Reduce Cost Of Medicare

Bush, Congress Should Seek To Reduce Cost Of Medicare: "Bush, Congress Should Seek To Reduce Cost Of Medicare" Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / Tricare News Article Date: 09 May 2007 - 17:00 PDT "The release last week of the annual report of the Medicare trustees underscores an unavoidable fact that too many politicians have nonetheless been avoiding for too long: Of all the entitlement programs, Medicare is on the most dangerously unsustainable financial course, squeezed simultaneously by rising health care costs and an aging population," a Washington Post editorial states. According to the editorial, "President Bush, to his credit, has proposed some ways of taming the Medicare monster," such as a provision in his fiscal year 2008 budget that would require beneficiaries with higher incomes "to pay higher premiums for prescription drug coverage," and Bush administration proposals that would reduce reimbursements to hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers are "worth discussing." However, the editorial states, the "administration can be faulted for insisting on retaining an expensive, lopsided payment scheme by which private insurance plans 'competing' with traditional Medicare receive a government subsidy for doing so." The editorial states, "That would be fine if such 'Medicare Advantage' plans were competing on a level playing field, but they're not: The government is paying them on average 12% more than traditional fee-for-service providers," adding, "No wonder the companies that market these plans are lobbying so furiously to keep their undue Medicare advantage" (Washington Post, 5/3). "Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.