Our Health Policy Matters

A Medicare exchange in which private plans compete with a public option?  A Medicaid program unshackled by federally determined program requirements and eligibility criteria? Now that Governor Romney has chosen Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, these new visions of Medicare and Medicaid will become part of the health policy debate in every state. They are both part of Vice-Presidential candidate Ryan’s now-famous Path to Prosperity proposal  published earlier this year. In his vision, Ryan attacks an “open-ended, blank-check” Medicare subsidy that in practical terms means a government that will pay providers what it costs to treat diseases even for the most expensive seniors.  In his own words:  “Medicare subsidizes coverage for seniors to ensure that coverage is affordable.  Affordability is a critical goal, but the subsidy structure of Medicare is fundamentally broken and drives costs in the wrong direction.  The open-ended, blank-c...

A Medicare exchange in which private plans compete with a public option?  A Medicaid program unshackled by federally determined program requirements and eligibility criteria? Now that Governor Romney has chosen Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, these new visions of Medicare and Medicaid will become part of the health policy debate in every state. They are both part of Vice-Presidential candidate Ryan’s now-famous Path to Prosperity proposal  published earlier this year. In his vision, Ryan attacks an “open-ended, blank-check” Medicare subsidy that in practical terms means a government that will pay providers what it costs to treat diseases even for the most expensive seniors.  In his own words:  “Medicare subsidizes coverage for seniors to ensure that coverage is affordable.  Affordability is a critical goal, but the subsidy structure of Medicare is fundamentally broken and drives costs in the wrong direction.  The open-ended, blank-c...