Whatever merits one may ascribe to the recently enacted Medicarelaw, it has aggravated, not controlled, rapidly rising Medicarecosts. Its major feature is a massive entitlement expansion, but italso embodies some bad health care policy: There is no need for thefederal government to displace existing drug coverage, pre-empt newprivate-sector options, or accelerate the loss of employer-baseddrug coverage.
The White House Office of Communications recently issued a seriesof "questions and answers" on the Medicare legislation before theHouse and the Senate. The point of the issuance was to answer thecritics of the Medicare legislation by responding to the maincriticisms in a question-and-answer format.
A preliminary analysis of the Prescription Drug and MedicareImprovement Act of 2003 based on a descriptive outline of theSenate bill's provisions; it is not based on formal legislativelanguage, which has been unavailable to the public.
The Atlantic Daily: America’s Two-Decade Bender
When does indulgence become a problem? We survey the state of America’s vices.
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Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight.
When the pandemic forced Americans to stay home, many turned to alcohol to cope, slurping down the apocalyptic news cycle with a hearty glass of red wine.
But which bad habits, new or old, should Americans actually be worried about? We look at one vice worth its dash of moral panic and one not so much.