A National Center for Policy Analysis report found increasing seniors' Medicare premiums and deductibles may help offset the program's excess cost, according to McKnight's.
Here are five notes:
1. Medicare comprises 20 percent of the $3 trillion the United States spends on healthcare each year.
2. Over the next 75 years, the program is expected to grow to 6 percent of gross domestic product.
3. The report recommends increasing beneficiary premiums to cover excess cost growth, thereby lowering spending growth to 2015 baseline estimates.
4. Additionally, the report claims increasing deductibles and copays would limit spending by making seniors more responsible for rising cost sharing.
5. The report also advises:
• Give Medicare payments to beneficiaries, as opposed to providers. Therefore, if beneficiaries chose a provider whose chargers were higher than the Medicare payment would be held accountable for the difference.
• Have premium support payments that rise at the same rate as per-capita GDP.
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