Medicare and Health Policy

There’s a reason why the nation has convened a White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA) once a decade, and it’s this:  Historically, these seminal events – which involve thousands of people feeding in ideas from communities across the country – have spurred creative consensus at a national level about how apparently intractable current challenges can be practically approached, even as strategies for making promising opportunities a reality over time are also mapped out.

March 23^rd, 2012 will mark the second anniversary of the signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). This legislation represents one of the largest and most comprehensive reforms to the American health care system since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. The ACA seeks to extend coverage to roughly 50 million uninsured Americans, slowing down the growth in the cost of health care, and improving the quality of care health care by changing the delivery system.

I was very excited to see NASI dedicate time to health disparities and determinants of health at this year’s conference, Social Insurance in a Market Economy: Obstacles and Opportunities, because it is important to have more conversations about how social insurance programs can help reduce health disparities.

Representative Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, yesterday released a plan entitled Path to Prosperity that would fundamentally restructure Medicare, the program that has provided health care and financial security for America’s elderly and disabled population since 1965.