WSJ Op-Ed By AHPI President Takes on "Mediscare"

Federal Health Care Reform

Today, American Health Policy Institute President Tevi Troy writes in The Wall Street Journal about the history of "Mediscare"—the effort to demonize politicians who recommend that Medicare undergo needed reforms.  The piece looks at former Governor Jeb Bush's recent comment on the need to make changes to Medicare, and the resulting backlash against those comments.  According to the article, Mediscare efforts go back decades, at least as far as the 1980 Carter-Reagan campaign.  The article also touches on some of the ideas discussed in the Institute's recent paper, "Hitting the Wall: When Health Care Costs Are No Longer Manageable," regarding the precariousness of the health safety net.  The new Medicare Trustees' Report finds that Medicare has $28 trillion in unfunded liabilities, and that the hospital trust fund runs out in 2030—a point highlighted in "Hitting the Wall."