Obamacare is working, Medicare Solvent through 2026:
The Medicare Trustees today
projected that the trust fund that finances Medicare’s hospital insurance
coverage will remain solvent until 2026, two years beyond what was projected in
last year’s report.
“The Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund is projected to be solvent for longer, which is good news for beneficiaries,” said Marilyn Tavenner, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). “Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, we are taking important steps to improve the delivery of care for seniors with Medicare. These reforms aim to reduce spending while improving the quality of care, and are an important down payment on solving Medicare’s long term financial issues.”
A number of factors have
contributed to the improved outlook, including lower-than-expected Part A
spending in 2012, and lower projected Medicare Advantage program costs. Recent
data from the Medicare Advantage program indicate that certain provisions of
the Affordable Care Act will help reduce the growth of spending in this program
by more than was previously projected. Partially offsetting these lower spending
projections are somewhat lower projected levels of tax revenue.
Medicare spending per beneficiary
has grown quite slowly over the past few years and is projected to continue
growing slowly over the next several years. From 2010 to 2012, Medicare
spending per beneficiary grew at 1.7 percent annually, more slowly than the
average rate of growth in the Consumer Price Index, and substantially more
slowly than the per capita rate of growth in the economy. Thanks in part
to the cost controls implemented in the Affordable Care Act, spending is
projected to continue to grow slower than the overall economy for the next
several years.
The benefits of this slower growth accrue to both tax payers and beneficiaries. For example, although the Part B premium for 2014 will not be determined until later this year, the preliminary estimate in the Report indicates that it will remain unchanged from the 2013 premium.
Background:
In 2012, Medicare covered 50.7
million people: 42.1 million people aged 65 and older, and 8.5 million people
with disabilities. About 27 percent of these beneficiaries have chosen to
enroll in Part C private health plans that contract with Medicare to deliver
Part A and Part B health services. Total expenditures in 2012 were $574.2
billion. Total income was $536.9 billion.
The Medicare Trustees are Treasury
Secretary and Managing Trustee Jacob Lew, Health and Human Services Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius, Acting Labor Secretary Seth Harris, and Acting Social
Security Commissioner Carolyn Colvin. Two other members are public
representatives who are appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by
the Senate. Charles Blahous III and Robert Reischauer began serving on Sept.
17, 2010. CMS Administrator Tavenner, is designated as Secretary of
the Board.
Robert Bache aka MedicareBob
Source: www.cms.gov.
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