Simply repealing Obamacare won’t solve all the nation’s health care woes, which is of course why the rallying cry has been “repeal and replace.” One of the most difficult problems facing policymakers is how to fix Medicare, which has become a crushingly expensive entitlement.
Fortunately, there are some good ideas for reforming Medicare, as explained in a short paper that I recently wrote with Robert Moffit of the Heritage Foundation:
In the 21st century, a renewed Medicare should be firmly based on patient choice and market competition. Such reform could be achieved through the creation of a new system of “premium support,” where the government makes a direct and generous contribution to the health plan of an enrollee’s choice, and health plans and providers compete directly for beneficiaries’ health care dollars. Premium support would give future Medicare patients control over the flow of Medicare dollars and decisions, guarantee personal choice of health plans, and let them secure the best value for the money. This is the kind of consumer choice model that federal workers and retirees in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) enjoy. It is a popular and successful approach because it emphasizes personal choice among plans, and government oversight ensures consumer protection and transparency.
The full paper is available in HTML here, or as a PDF here.