Trustees Report Underscores Need for Wholesale Medicare Reform

While the headline takeaway from the latest Medicare Trustees report was that the Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund will be exhausted two years later than previously projected, industry experts suggest that the report should light a fire under Congress to take swift legislative action to sustain Medicare financing. During a recent webinar hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a panel of seasoned policy experts agreed that the report underscored the need for comprehensive structural reform to the Medicare program, including potential changes to the way Medicare Advantage plans are paid.

Published on June 2, the Medicare Board of Trustees’ annual report provides previous and projected costs for the Medicare program’s two separate trust funds: the Hospital Insurance trust fund (HI), which helps pay for inpatient hospital and other services covered by Medicare Part A; and the Supplemental Medicare Insurance trust fund (SMI), which helps pay for physician, outpatient hospital, home health and other services covered by Parts B and D.