RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Henry J. Aaron and Austin B. Frakt, January 25, 2012, New England Journal of Medicine
Henry Aaron and Austin Frakt argue against recent premium support proposals that would fundamentally change Medicare in an attempt to reduce the federal budget deficit. Aaron and Frakt claim that implementation of the Affordable Care Act will do much to lower the nation's health care costs while maintaining stability for Medicare beneficiaries. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Ron Haskins, January 19, 2012, The Brookings Institution
Ron Haskins argues that the greatest challenge facing the next president is addressing the deficit, and neither President Obama nor any GOP challenger has put forth a useful compromise. Haskins says the next president must negotiate with Congress to reform both entitlement programs and the federal budget process. Read More
VIDEO
Ron Haskins, December 30, 2011
Ron Haskins says that while automatic budget cuts will do some harm to some anti-poverty programs, the largest and most important programs — including Medicaid and Social Security — have been largely shielded.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Henry J. Aaron, December 30, 2011, The Brookings Institution
Henry Aaron discusses the economics of Medicare, and changes that would improve the program's operations. Aaron examines whether premium support plans are a viable way to control spending, and argues that implementing the Affordable Care Act should be a priority. Read More
PAST EVENT
Friday, December 16, 2011
10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Washington, DC
There is a growing consensus that the federal deficit cannot be brought under control unless reforms are enacted that slow the growth of Medicare spending. On December 16, the Budgeting for National Priorities project at Brookings and the Bipartisan Policy Center's Debt Reduction Task Force hosted a discussion of the role of premium support in controlling Medicare costs and in making U.S. health care more efficient and effective. At the event, premium support was explained and its strengths and weaknesses analyzed by major speakers and a panel of experts. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Ron Haskins, Henry J. Aaron, James C. Capretta, Pete Domenici and Alice M. Rivlin, December 16, 2011, The Brookings Institution
Ron Haskins, Henry Aaron, James Capretta, Pete Domenici and Alice Rivlin present a primer to explain premium support, to discuss the best arguments for and against its use to control health care spending in general and Medicare spending in particular, and to outline a premium support plan that is responsive to most of the valid criticisms. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Judy Feder, Paul Van de Water and Henry J. Aaron, December 16, 2011, The Brookings Institution
Judy Feder, Paul Van de Water and Henry Aaron argue against premium support reform plans for Medicare, making claims that Medicare currently works better than typical insurance plans, that current premium support plans are poorly designed, that Medicare can still be adjusted and improved, and that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act to curb health costs is a higher priority. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
S. Lawrence Kocot, December 15, 2011, The Brookings Institution
S. Lawrence Kocot argues that as policymakers focus on improving the quality of care and decreasing costs in government health programs, one obvious change is to end conflicts of interest and misaligned financial incentives to long term care pharmacies. Kocot explains that they are endangering nursing homes residents and may increase Medicare costs. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Henry J. Aaron, December 08, 2011, Senate Special Committee on Aging
Before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Henry Aaron presented a detailed examination of the conditions that generations born in 1860, 1890, 1930, and 1960 had to deal with as they reached old age. Aaron also explains why the prospects for those born after 1960 are troubling. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Henry J. Aaron, November 16, 2011, Rockford, Illinois Chamber of Commerce
Speaking before the Rockford, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Henry Aaron discusses how the courts, Congress, voters, state and federal executive agencies and the results from medical research may change health care and health policy reform in the coming years. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Henry J. Aaron, October 12, 2011, Kaiser Health News
Henry Aaron argues that discussion surrounding U.S. health care policy should focus not on how reform proposals might curb health care spending, but instead on whether tax increases to keep Medicare and Medicaid solvent will form part of the plan to curb federal budget deficits. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Henry J. Aaron, October 12, 2011, New England Journal of Medicine
As the U.S. government tackles its budget deficit, Henry Aaron writes that if all deficit reduction is achieved via spending cuts, it will be impossible to sustain current Medicare and Medicaid commitments. Because of this, Aaron argues, tax increases must account for a sizable fraction of any deficit reduction plan. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Henry J. Aaron, July 15, 2011, POLITICO
The Independent Payment Advisory Board, a central component of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that promises to slow the growth of health care spending, is far from perfect but repealing it would be a serious mistake, argues Henry Aaron. Read More
VIDEO
Mark B. McClellan, July 08, 2011
As Washington struggles to tackle the nation’s debt, policymakers on both sides of the aisle have begun to acknowledge that the current course of the country’s Medicare and Medicaid programs is unsustainable. Mark McClellan explains how gradual changes to Medicare and Medicaid today will prevent more painful and radical changes tomorrow.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
June 06, 2011, The Brookings Institution
The Engelberg Center and the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the Medicare Shared Savings Program Notice for Proposed Rulemaking, focusing on key principles that can have a significant impact on the cost and quality of the U.S. health care system. Read More