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Cato Daily Podcast

Medicare Can't and Won't Go on Like This

May 3, 2024
Brian Blase, chief of Paragon Health Institute, and Michael Cannon from Cato discuss the fiscal challenges of Medicare. They explore funding issues, lobbying dynamics, and propose reforms for cost control and quality care. The podcast highlights the resistance to cutting Medicare spending, misconceptions about the Medicare Trust Fund, and the impact of recent legislation on rising debt levels.
21:27

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Medicare faces impending insolvency due to aging population and rising healthcare costs.
  • Healthcare lobby influences increase in government payments, impacting Medicare's financial strain.

Deep dives

Challenges and Unsustainability of Medicare Funding

Medicare faces fiscal challenges with unsustainable cost growth and increasing reliance on general revenue due to declining dedicated funding sources. The program's impending insolvency within the next five to ten years, driven by factors like the aging population and rising healthcare costs, poses a significant threat. Medicare's dependence on general revenue transfers, especially noticeable in the significant growth of physician services funded through such transfers, exacerbates the program's financial strain.

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