 
News of the Day ... in Perspective4/30/2005Limits on Medicare commitment to be considered Social Security’s commitment to retirees is bounded by wages and is loosely linked to economic productivity. The Medicare commitment, on the other hand, is open-ended. As Medicare Trustees have shown that Medicare is unsustainable, limits must be considered. One approach is to limit growth in Medicare expenditures per enrollee to the per capita GDP. The limit could be applied only to the federal contribution so that the global limit would not directly affect fees charged by hospitals and physicians. Expenditures exceeding the GDP limit would be transferred to beneficiaries: a feature that “would not be unnoticed.” Applying the infamous “doughnut hole” structure to benefits has been suggested. See “Putting Limits on the Medicare Commitment” by John B. Harkey, Jr., Ph.D., http://www.healthleaders.com/news/feature1.php?contentid=66776. Additional information: “Medicare Showstopper,” AAPS News, November 1997 “Freedom from Medicare is available,” AAPS News, September 1997 “Medicare versus freedom,” AAPS News, July 1997 “Medicare and patient freedom,” AAPS News, July 1996 “Can Medicare be saved?” AAPS News, June 1995
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