When President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) he wiped out $53 trillion of unfunded U.S. government liability. With the stroke of a pen, more than 60 per cent of Medicare’s long-term deficit vanished. It’s all in the latest Medicare Trustees report. The news is too good. It’s embarrassingly good. It’s, well, unbelievable, says John C. Goodman, President, CEO and the Kellye Wright Fellow of the National Center for Policy Analysis.
Taking a closer look, we see that not all sectors were treated equally by the PPACA. The pharmaceutical industry made out like bandits. Doctors took a bath. And the hospital industry got creamed. But what if you don’t care about the lobbyists, the trade associations and the special interests? What if your main interest is in what kind of health care you’re going to get, asks Goodman?
Well, that’s why there was a need for an alternative report one prepared by Medicare’s actuaries. And according to this report, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, says Goodman. For example:
So, why will doctors continue to see Medicare patients? Why will hospitals admit them? Many won’t. And that’s why the actuaries say the Trustees report is “unrealistic” and “implausible.” According to the alternative report:
There is no more effective cost control device in the world than the simple expedient of denying people care. And that is what is being forecast for the future of the elderly and the disabled, says Goodman.
Source: John C. Goodman, News That’s Too Good to Be True, Right Side News, August 10, 2010.
For Medicare Trustees Report: http://www.cms.gov/ReportsTrustFunds/downloads/tr2010.pdf
For Illustrative Alternative Report: http://www.cms.gov/ReportsTrustFunds/downloads/2010TRAlternativeScenario.pdf
For more on Health Issues: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=16
First published by the National Center for Policy Analysis, United States
FMF Policy Bulletin/ 17 August 2010
