Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-16-2023
Publisher
American Medical Association
Source Publication
JAMA Health Forum
Source ISSN
2689-0186
Abstract
Launched in 1965 based on the design prevalent in employer-sponsored insurance markets, Medicare began as a fee-for-service (FFS) benefit for the “very elderly,” with eligibility at age 65 years when the average life expectancy in the US was approximately 70 years. Fast forward to 2023, more than 60 million Americans depend on Medicare for financing their health benefits. Today, the program faces questions of fiscal sustainability, with hospital insurance (Part A) trust fund insolvency projected for 2028. Leaders across administrations, including former US Department of Health and Human Services Secretaries Burwell and Leavitt and former Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrators Mark McClellan and Don Berwick, have emphasized the need to transition from volume to value to improve outcomes and reduce costs. Herein we review how reforms to the Medicare program built around the transition from volume to value can place the program on the path to fiscal solvency.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Miller, Brian J.; Grabert, Lisa M.; and Hargan, Eric D., "Medicare Modernization—The Urgent Need for Fiscal Solvency" (2023). College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications. 1150.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/nursing_fac/1150
Comments
Accepted version. JAMA Health Forum, Vol. 4, No. 6 (2023). DOI. This article is © The Authors. Used with permission.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License.