The editorial board of The Washington Post, no organ of conservative opinion, is absolutely right: “Medicare as we know it is not sustainable,” and the “ultimate solution” is structural reform. Bingo. The right structural reform is to expand Medicare’s defined-contribution financing (routinely called “premium support”) as it broadly exists today …
As the discussions over the fiscal cliff continue, the debate over entitlement reform is getting confused. The issue is not only how much savings constitutes reform, but also the underlying policies that get you there. Thus far in the fiscal cliff negotiations, Republicans have pushed for greater spending cuts, namely …
Retiring House Ways and Mean Health Care Subcommittee chairman Wally Herger (R–CA) has introduced the most complete and detailed major Medicare reform proposal in a decade. Herger leaves a rich legacy with the Save and Strengthen Medicare Act (H.R. 6645). The bill moves Medicare to a defined-contribution model with competition …
With just a few weeks left in 2012, all eyes in Washington are on Capitol Hill and the “fiscal cliff” negotiations. As usual, Congress and the President are taking highly contentious issues down to the wire before cutting a deal—never a situation that ends well for taxpayers. Federal Reserve Chairman …
You’ve probably heard some scary things about Medicare reform lately. Words like “vouchercare” and an alleged $6,400 cost increase are now permanently etched into liberal talking points — even though these myths have been debunked time and again. Our colleagues at Heritage Action are keeping a running tally of the most …
The Kaiser Family Foundation just released a study that grossly misrepresents the premium-support model of Medicare reform and apparently misunderstands normal market dynamics and the differences between efficiency, choice, and higher premiums. The Kaiser study assumes that an entire class of Americans—senior citizens—is insensitive to price. In reality, seniors are …
Tonight’s debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Representative Paul Ryan is supposed to cover both domestic and foreign policy. The Heritage Foundation’s policy experts have submitted 10 questions they would like to see asked in the debate. Watch with us tonight—we will be streaming the debate live at 9 …
Opponents to Medicare reform have been making plenty of erroneous claims about Medicare premium support lately, one of the worst being that Representative Paul Ryan’s (R–WI) premium-support model, co-authored by Senator Ron Wyden (D–OR), would cost future seniors an extra $6,400 a year. This claim is simply false. Buried beneath …
In recent weeks, liberal politicians, editorialists, and policy analysts have vigorously attacked reform of Medicare based on defined-contribution financing. In fact, this approach to reforming Medicare has a long bipartisan tradition, going back to the 1980s and Representatives Richard Gephardt (D–MO) and David Stockman (R–MI). Much of this criticism is …
During last night’s presidential debate, claims were flying fast and furious. Some of these claims were true, others false. Here are the top 10—see which ones you can guess as either true or false. 1. Governor Mitt Romney’s tax plan would burden the middle class. President Obama: “[I]ndependent studies looking …
