Robert Greenstein

195 days ago - Policymakers cannot solve Medicare’s problems in the absence of larger reform throughout the U.S. health care system that lowers costs to the extent possible and — in particular — slows the rate at which health care costs increase in the future. The needed reductions in projected Medicare costs cannot be achieved in isolation from changes that address health costs systemwide unless policymakers are willing to institute increasingly draconian cuts in health care for tens of millions of elderly and disabled Medicare beneficiaries who cannot afford to buy large amounts of supplemental health care on their own.