How is Medicare different from other government sponsored healthcare plans? Are the current projections concerning? What types of medical claims will be affected and how? What can or should we do about it? As a future healthcare administrator, how do you weigh your responsibilities for your patients vs. your responsibilities for your healthcare organization?

Medicare (In)solvency

Medicare is the nation’s health insurance program for persons aged 65 and older and certain disabled persons. Medicare consists of four distinct parts: Part A (Hospital Insurance, or HI); Part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance, or SMI); Part C (Medicare Advantage, or MA); and Part D (the outpatient prescription drug benefit). From its inception, the HI Trust Fund has faced a projected shortfall. The insolvency date has been postponed a number of times, primarily due to legislative changes that have had the effect of restraining growth in program spending. The 2018 Medicare Trustees Report projects that, under intermediate assumptions, the HI Trust Fund will become insolvent in 2026, three years earlier than estimated in the prior year’s report.

After reading the following reports (linked below), discuss historical events leading to the looming insolvency. How is Medicare different from other government sponsored healthcare plans? Are the current projections concerning? What types of medical claims will be affected and how? What can or should we do about it? As a future healthcare administrator, how do you weigh your responsibilities for your patients vs. your responsibilities for your healthcare organization?

• https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/the-facts-on-medicare-spending-and-financing/
• https://nationalinterest.org/feature/medicare-will-be-insolvent-by-2026%E2%80%94can-america-fix-it-time-26211
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2018/06/06/no-medicare-wont-go-broke-in-2026-yes-it-will-cost-a-lot-more-money/#58aab8f47eb1