Book Review: ‘Modernizing Medicare: Harnessing the Power of Consumer Choice and Market Competition’
Commentary
Enacted together in 1965, Medicare is the U.S. federal government-managed health insurance program for citizens 65 and over, while Medicaid is the de facto welfare program for low-income adults, children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities.
While 36 million people were enrolled in traditional Medicare in 2021, the program’s actuaries already envision this number growing to 38 million in 2040 (pdf). And that’s low-balling it. Yet with this growth in the number of people Medicare has signed up, there’s only a small increase in Medicare’s annual budget. This money comes from beneficiary monthly premiums, additional taxpayer funds allocated by Congress, and most of all, the involuntary paycheck deductions (aka taxes) paid by all employees and employers….