A week ago, the Medicare Trustees issued their annual report, which showed that the program is on the fact track to insolvency. The 2011 analysis projected that the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund (which funds Medicare Part A) will be insolvent in 2024, and the program’s long-term unfunded obligations—promised benefits that …
The just released 2011 Medicare trustees report does not contain any big surprises. Much of what the trustees say in this report they have said before: Medicare poses enormous challenges for patients and taxpayers alike, and its financial condition continues a downward slide. Some key findings: Medicare’s unfunded obligations increased …
Fellow Americans: Today, I am excited to announce the release of The Heritage Foundation’s comprehensive agenda that sets a new course for the size and scope of the federal government. The new report, “Saving the American Dream: Heritage’s Plan to Fix the Debt, Cut Spending, and Restore Prosperity,” lays out …
Join our “Lunch with Heritage” chat from 12-1 ET. We are taking questions about the growth of entitlement programs and how they affect our fiscal future. We will be joined by Research Associate Kate Nix, one of the co-authors of the 2011 Budget Chart Book which graphically illustrates the unsustainable …
This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will consider solutions to Medicare’s flawed physician payment scheme. Physician payment is annually updated on the basis of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), a special economic formula which, as configured today, would result in deep annual payment cuts. This directly threatens seniors’ …
Dr. Hal C. Scherz’s tenacious work bringing together doctors across America to make the case for repealing Obamacare brought him a deserved reward earlier today. During a lunchtime ceremony in Dallas, the Atlanta physician accepted The Heritage Foundation’s 2011 Salvatori Prize for American Citizenship. Heritage annually presents the $25,000 prize, …
Liberals’ solution to rising health care costs has consistently been to take control of health care decisions away from patients and their doctors and to place it in the hands of government. Obamacare does this by allowing unelected bureaucrats to define and reward value in the Medicare program, and the …
In a timely Heritage in Focus, Heritage expert Curtis Dubay discusses part of President Obama’s budget proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy – those earning over $250,000. The president’s budget this year is $3.6 trillion. Confiscating every single penny from every income earner making more than $114,000 – everyone …
The big three entitlement programs—Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security—promise to increase federal spending to unprecedented and unaffordable levels in coming years. Medicare in particular represents trillions in unfunded obligations, and only bold reforms can restore long-term sustainability to the program. In his recently released budget, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul …
