Premium support proposals to reform the Medicare program would provide beneficiaries with a financial contribution to purchase Medicare coverage. While versions differ in detail, they contain several core elements and have been refined over more than 15 years
Medicare patients today face reduced access to care, which will inevitably be rationed through the Affordable Care Act’s relentless payment cuts. Medicare premium support, long a bipartisan proposal, is the best alternative to this unhappy scenario.
The President’s 2014 budget arrived on April 10, more than two months past its legal deadline of the first Monday in February. In the budget, the President laid out his vision for his second term in office.
President Obama’s narrow victory has left proponents of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) breathing a collective sigh of relief, believing that the legislation is safe. It’s true, of course, that the election’s outcome has ended the prospect of a new administration using Republican majorities in both chambers and the budget reconciliation process to force outright repeal. But the reality of the economic and political situation means the core elements of the ACA remain very much in play.