Medicare’s Long-Term Fiscal Outlook Not Good
Medicare’s long-term fiscal outlook is unlikely to improve, even with the recent slowdown in health care costs, says Charles Blahous, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, a research fellow for the Hoover Institution, and a public trustee for Social Security and Medicare. The Affordable Care Act’s supporters are claiming that the law has slowed the growth of health care costs. There is little if any basis for that claim, as the cost slowdown began prior to the Affordable Care Act and because the law appears to be increasing health spending, not decreasing it. Read more…