Fix Health Care Policy

In recent weeks, liberal politicians, editorialists, and policy analysts have vigorously attacked reform of Medicare based on a defined contribution financing. In fact, this approach to reforming Medicare has a long bipartisan tradition, going back to the 1980s and Representatives Richard Gephardt (D–MO) and David Stockman (R–MI). In fact, much of this criticism is distorted, misleading, or just plain wrong.

Here are some articles that set the record straight:
Obamacare will end Medicare as we know it (Paul Howard)

Washington Times, 9/27/12

“Both parties like to play the ‘Mediscare’ card, so the question is not whether we need to slow the rate of Medicare spending (we do), but whether the cuts are structured in a way that makes Medicare sustainable over the long run.”

Medicare Coupons, Strokes, and Heart Attacks (Bob Moffit)

National Review Online, 9/25/12

“The Medicare misinformation machine is spinning overtime. As President Ronald Reagan once said, ‘Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn’t so.’”

Boos Subside as Ryan Explains the Truth (Grace-Marie Turner)

Read the rest on The Foundry…

Tags: bipartisan, health care, Medicare, myths, ObamaCare, premium support, round-up, setting record straight

In recent weeks, liberal politicians, editorialists, and policy analysts have vigorously attacked reform of Medicare based on a defined contribution financing. In fact, this approach to reforming Medicare has a long bipartisan tradition, going back to the 1980s and Representatives Richard Gephardt (D–MO) and David Stockman (R–MI). In fact, much of this criticism is distorted, misleading, or just plain wrong.

See the full list on The Foundry…

Tags: bipartisan, distorted, Medicare, myths, premium support

The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health held a hearing last Friday to discuss the bipartisan effort behind competing premium support plans. These plans would restructure traditional Medicare and guarantee its fiscal stability in the future.

As Chairman Wally Herger (R–CA) said:

Unless Congress acts, the Medicare program that seniors and people with disabilities rely on will go bankrupt in just a few short years.… The premium support model holds promise to place Medicare on sound financial footing while transforming and modernizing the program to provide greater choice for beneficiaries.

In premium support, beneficiaries receive a defined contribution from the government toward a health plan of their choosing. This financing change—already the method for Medicare Part D drug coverage—would stimulate intense competition and lower costs and improve quality.

(Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: bipartisan, defined contribution, Medicare premium support

The congressional enactment of the Budget Control Act to increase the national debt limit was mostly a triumph of process, not substance. But substance cannot be avoided. The looming question is how this process will deal with the biggest entitlement challenge: Medicare.

On Medicare, Congress has only two options: (1) serious but careful structural reform, or (2) blunt across-the-board cuts that will make matters even worse. After almost 30 years of tiresome debate on this issue, studiously ignoring the findings of independent analysts and presidential commissions alike, Congress has yet another chance to do the hard work on the details of Medicare reform.

The Goal. Following the initial reduction in discretionary spending, the Budget Control Act creates a special bipartisan Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, a “super committee” that would have the “goal” of producing $1.2–1.5 trillion in 10-year savings. Just as there is no cap on budget savings, surprisingly, there is no real floor, either. As Heritage Vice President for Domestic and Economic Policy David Addington observes, the deficit reduction “goal” is not even legally binding. Nonetheless, the committee is to report its recommendations by November 23 and Congress is to enact them, without amendment, by December 23.

This is a very fast-track process for some very big thinking and some very big changes. Serious Medicare reform is going to require hard, fast, and extraordinarily competent policy work.  (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: bipartisan, Budget Control Act, debt deal, Medicare, ObamaCare, super committee

Washington Post’s David Broder notes grudging acceptances from former Sens. Tom Daschle and Bob Dole regarding the reality of health reform that’s likely to pass through Congress. While Daschle admits “there would be no federal-government plan,” Dole acknowledges “that there is little chance for bipartisanship in the House.” The two senators, along with former Republican leader Howard Baker, joined up to release a report on possible provisions for a bipartisan health bill, Broder writes.

Tags: bipartisan, daschle, dole, public plan