For most of the last five decades, the most-discussed finding by the Medicare trustees has been the insolvency date, when Medicare’s trust fund would no longer be able to pay all of the program’s costs. Last year’s report projected that the hospital insurance trust fund would be depleted by 2030 – just 14 years from now. The report also predicted a more immediate and controversial event: the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), famously nicknamed “death panels,” would be required to submit proposals to reduce Medicare spending in 2018, with the reductions taking place in 2019. Do we remain on this path to automatic Medicare cuts next year?
The American Enterprise Institute and the Schaeffer Initiative for Innovation in Health Policy, a collaboration between the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics and the Brookings Institution, hosted a discussion of the new 2016 trustees report on June 23. Medicare’s Chief Actuary Paul Spitalnic summarized the key findings followed by a panel of experts who discussed the potential consequences of the report for policy actions that might be taken to improve the program’s fiscal condition. You can join the conversation at #MedicareReport.
The 2016 Medicare Trustees Report: One year closer to IPAB cuts?
Panel discussion
Agenda
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June 23
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Introduction
Joseph Antos Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care and Retirement Policy, American Enterprise Institute -
Keynote Address
Paul Spitalnic Chief Actuary - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services -
Panel Discussion
Joseph Antos Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care and Retirement Policy, American Enterprise InstituteJames Capretta Visiting Fellow, American Enterprise Institute - Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy CenterKeith Fontenot Managing Director of Government Relations and Public Policy - Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, PC, Former Brookings ExpertRobert Moffit Senior Fellow, Center for Health Policy Studies, The Heritage FoundationAlice M. Rivlin Former Brookings ExpertPaul Spitalnic Chief Actuary - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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