Panel: Saving Medicare requires public support

While there are a number of potential solutions to theMedicare funding crisis, enacting real change entails engaging the public onthe issue, according to panelists at a recent forum sponsored by the AmericanEnterprise Institute.

Medicare trustees last Tuesday projected insolvency forthe program by 2019. Possible solutions include better financial incentives forproviders, raising the age of eligibility, and income-related premiums forMedicare Part D, one panelist said. The physician payment system is an example of areimbursement system that needs reform, the same panelist said.

While the government issued a “Medicare fundingwarning,” the public may not react to it with concern because the problemsseem far off in the future. As a result, politicians are not likely to address the crisis,panelists said. Earlier this year, President Bush proposed capping medicalmalpractice awards and charging wealthy beneficiaries more for theirprescription drugs to curb Medicare spending.