Transcript Slide 1
State of the Union: Medicare
AEI on the Hill
January 25, 2012
Joseph R. Antos, Ph.D.
Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care
and Retirement Policy
American Enterprise Institute
Budget drives Medicare
policy
…and the budget outlook is dire
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Debt ceiling and the BCA
Budget Control Act Provisions
2012 Impact
2013 and Beyond
Ceiling Increase
$900 billion
$1.2 – 1.5 trillion
Deficit Reduction
$917 billion
$1.2 trillion or more*
• Sequester: $1.06 T non-interest; 50% defense, 50% nondefense; 2% maximum Medicare cut; Medicaid exempt
• Medicare sequester = $11 B in 2013, $123 B over 9 years
• WH proposal: Medicare $248 B, Medicaid $72 B
Last chance to prevent automatic cuts
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Ryan vs. Obama: Medicare
House Budget Resolution
PPACA + Budget + BCA
• Repeal parts of PPACA, retain
savings
• Raise Medicare eligibility to 67
• Medicare premium support for age
65 in 2022
• Subsidized MSA for low-income
Medicare
• Provider payment cuts, FFS Medicare
• Medicare Advantage cuts
• Drug rebate
• Increase premiums/high income (2017)
• Home health copay (2017)
• Medigap surcharge (2017)
• New Medicare payment methods (episodebased, pay for performance)
•ACOs
• Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB)
• Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation
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SGR – No permanent solution
Cost, 2012-21
Cliff
Short Term Fixes
0% update in 2012
0% update in 2012-13
MEI update in 2012
MEI update in 2012-13
22.0
26.5
21.8
26.6
-34%
-38%
-34%
-39%
"Permanent" Fixes
0% update
MEI update
297.6
358.1
• 27.4% reduction delayed 2 months, $3.6 B cost
• Another fight in the fall?
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SGR pay-fors
• MedPAC proposal realigns FFS payments
– Freeze primary care; cut specialist care 5.9% through
2014, then freeze
– $200 B over 10 years
• Pay-fors: spread the pain
– Reduce updates and payments to hospitals,
home health, SNF, DME, other services
– Add home health copay
– Prior authorization for imaging
– Part D rebates for dual eligibles
Cuts used for SGR cannot be used to reduce
the budget deficit
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Bending the curve?
• ACOs
• Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation
• Independent Payment Advisory Board
– Target GDP + 1% growth
• Past experiments did not work (CBO)
– Disease management, care coordination:
spending unchanged or increased
– 3 of 4 payment demos saved little or no money
[See http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/126xx/doc12663/01-18-12-MedicareDemoBrief.pdf]
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Premium support
• Key changes in Wyden-Ryan
– Traditional FFS Medicare remains an option
– Full competitive bidding between MA and
FFS
– Spending target GDP + 1%
– Other savings provisions unspecified
• Some form of premium support expected
in 2013 House budget resolution
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