ACA/Obamacare: So You Think ACA is Too Expensive to Maintain…Try Medicare on for Size

"The Trump Administration has promised to deliver to the American people a healthcare plan that is, in President Trump’s own words, “much less expensive and far better” than Obamacare. But While Obamacare is expected to spend over $900 billion from 2018 to 2027, focusing solely on the Obama administration’s signature achievement ignores bigger fiscal challenges; Namely, the Medicare program.

Our insurance program for the elderly and disabled – Medicare – is expected to cost $900 billion in 2024 alone. From 2018 to 2027, this comes to a whopping $8.5 trillion—an order of magnitude larger than the cost of the ACA. Beyond the topline price tag are a number of endangered programs.

Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund, commonly known as Part A, is expected to run out of money in the next 10 years. This would mean an immediate reduction in benefits when the money runs out—2028, according to the program’s actuaries. Meanwhile, the funds that Medicare uses to pay for physician services (Part B) and prescription drug benefits (Part D) are consistently growing as a share of revenue". - Repeal & Replace: Missing the Medicare Forest for the Obamacare Trees, realclearhealth.com, 02/24/2017

Link to the entire article appears below:

http://www.realclearhealth.com/articles/2017/02/24/repeal__replace_missing_the_medicare_forest_for_the_obamacare_trees_110464.html?utm_source=RCP+Morning+Note&utm_campaign=8da8cfe47f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_11_11&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a4db5f2336-8da8cfe47f-84790497