Can Medicare Be Preserved While Reducing the Deficit?

The politically polarized debate over the role of Medicare in deficit and debt reduction often ignores the accumulating evidence that the program can achieve significant spending reductions without sacrificing Medicare’s essential protections. The caricature of Medicare as a program out of control and in need of fundamental restructuring is wrong. Equally wrong are views that any significant changes to Medicare’s current benefit design and payment policies would compromise beneficiary access and quality. Instead of joining this nonproductive clash of ideological and political positions, we identify policies that correct long-standing gaps in financial protections that Medicare beneficiaries face, promote greater efficiency within payment systems, and recognize the need for additional revenues to pay for the impending surge in the number of beneficiaries in the program.