Last Friday I contributed to a debate on the Ryan Medicare plan at the U.S. News & World Report “Debate Club.”
There are two basic choices for slowing the pace of rising costs in Medicare. The first option—the one embraced by the Obama administration—is to rely on the federal government to impose price controls and otherwise try to micromanage how healthcare is delivered to patients. This approach has been tried for the past four decades in Medicare, and hasn’t worked.
The alternative is to harness the power of consumer choice in Medicare. The proposal would be phased in gradually. Current beneficiaries and those age 55 and older would see no changes in the way the program works for them. Future entrants, however, would be entitled to a premium support payment which they would direct to the plan of their choice.
You can read the rest of my post here.