Icky
10-26-2006, 09:57 AM
Experts: Medicare is 'completely unsustainable'
Despite the largely successful rollout of Medicare Part D drug benefits, Medicare itself is certain to undergo a substantial
transformation in coming years, several experts on Medicare predicted Monday. Behind the changes: pressure from dramatically
rising health care costs and an exploding population of aging Americans.
A packed roster of high-profile leaders from government
and industry laid out a scenario for fundamental changes in the U.S. health care system and federal entitlement programs on the
opening day of the Third National Medicare Congress, presented by Avalere Health. “Despite the fact that we just went through
major changes with the implementation of the drug benefit and the reshaping of the managed care portion [of Medicare], this is
completely unsustainable,” warned Avalere’s president and founder, Dan Mendelson. He said “the demographic challenge and cost
increases” would threaten the solvency of Medicare until the U.S. tackles the larger issue of "entitlement reform.” In addition, said
Mendelson, balanced-budget requirements in state governments will continue to put cost-cutting pressures on Medicaid.
“Growth in spending for beneficiaries, and the growth in [number] of beneficiaries … is turning the Medicare cost picture into a
substantial challenge,” said Bob Atlas, Avalere’s senior vice president.
In his first public address since stepping down last week, Mark McClellan summed up the first year’s progress in the rollout of the
Part D drug benefit program, noting that roughly 90 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in some form of prescription drug
coverage plan, and that Part D was costing the government substantially less in its first year than some had predicted. McClellan
laid out the strategic transformation of CMS that he pushed while heading the agency. Among its tenets: the adoption of information
technology and integrated electronic record-keeping across all facets of the health care system, a better system for measuring and
tracking patient outcomes, more effective collaboration among providers and Medicare and the elimination of fraud and waste.
Source: APCI Weekly
Despite the largely successful rollout of Medicare Part D drug benefits, Medicare itself is certain to undergo a substantial
transformation in coming years, several experts on Medicare predicted Monday. Behind the changes: pressure from dramatically
rising health care costs and an exploding population of aging Americans.
A packed roster of high-profile leaders from government
and industry laid out a scenario for fundamental changes in the U.S. health care system and federal entitlement programs on the
opening day of the Third National Medicare Congress, presented by Avalere Health. “Despite the fact that we just went through
major changes with the implementation of the drug benefit and the reshaping of the managed care portion [of Medicare], this is
completely unsustainable,” warned Avalere’s president and founder, Dan Mendelson. He said “the demographic challenge and cost
increases” would threaten the solvency of Medicare until the U.S. tackles the larger issue of "entitlement reform.” In addition, said
Mendelson, balanced-budget requirements in state governments will continue to put cost-cutting pressures on Medicaid.
“Growth in spending for beneficiaries, and the growth in [number] of beneficiaries … is turning the Medicare cost picture into a
substantial challenge,” said Bob Atlas, Avalere’s senior vice president.
In his first public address since stepping down last week, Mark McClellan summed up the first year’s progress in the rollout of the
Part D drug benefit program, noting that roughly 90 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in some form of prescription drug
coverage plan, and that Part D was costing the government substantially less in its first year than some had predicted. McClellan
laid out the strategic transformation of CMS that he pushed while heading the agency. Among its tenets: the adoption of information
technology and integrated electronic record-keeping across all facets of the health care system, a better system for measuring and
tracking patient outcomes, more effective collaboration among providers and Medicare and the elimination of fraud and waste.
Source: APCI Weekly