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The Affordable Care Act and Medicare: how the law is changing the program and the challenges that remain
The Affordable Care Act and Medicare: how the law is changing the program and the challenges that remain
This second report in the series Medicare at 50 Years describes how the Affordable Care Act is strengthening the program for current and future beneficiaries and outlines the major challenges that policymakers have yet to confront. By starting to move Medicare away from fee-for-service payment and holding health care providers more accountable for both the quality and total cost of care, certain ACA reforms--most notably the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation--have the potential to reshape not just the Medicare program but the entire U.S. health care system, the authors say. But the rapid influx of new beneficiaries as the postwar generation retires will necessitate further changes to Medicare, as total program outlays will likely outpace growth in the economy. Another challenge is Medicare's complex and fragmented benefit package, which as currently configured is inadequate for meeting the financial and health care needs of future beneficiaries.
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