Modernizing Medicare - by Robert Emmet Moffit & Marie Fishpaw (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Health policymaking has become increasingly contentious over recent decades. The editors observe that legislators in the coming years will need to address Medicare and its increasing share of the federal budget. Against this backdrop they offer a collection of highly regarded experts to weigh in on strategies that address both the large and growing fiscal needs of the program and the highly bureaucratic administration of the program--which they contend is not flexible enough to meet the needs of beneficiaries"--

Book Synopsis

Top policy experts offer Medicare reform solutions for the millions of seniors whose health care depends on America's fastest growing federal entitlement.

In Modernizing Medicare, editors Robert Emmet Moffit and Marie Fishpaw bring together a rare combination of leading scholars and policy practitioners to outline a vision for Medicare reform and provide solutions for the millions of seniors whose health care depends on it. Contributors include a former Medicare trustee, a former Medicare administrator, and a former director of the Congressional Budget Office.

Detailing Medicare's biggest problems, this team of top policy experts offer solutions based on personal freedom of choice, transparency of price and performance, and market competition among health plans and providers that will secure patients more affordable, more accountable, and higher quality medical care. They also address Medicare's reform needs and analyze the promising performance of the Medicare Advantage program. The authors outline Medicare's major financial problems and the best solutions for Medicare patients and taxpayers alike. While Medicare's accelerating spending is generating higher deficits and debt, standard cost-control strategies--such as payment reductions and price controls--jeopardize patients' access to high-quality care.

Contributors: Joseph R. Antos, PhD; Doug Badger; Charles P. Blahous, PhD; Walton F. Francis; John C. Goodman, PhD; Edmund F. Haislmaier; Douglas Holtz-Eakin, PhD; Brian J. Miller, MD, MBA, MPH; Robert Emmet Moffit, PhD; Mark V. Pauly, PhD; Christopher M. Pope, PhD; Gail R. Wilensky, PhD.

Review Quotes

Modernizing Medicare makes its case for broader Medicare reform by offering a path through the political minefield. . . . The book addresses the political problems of Medicare reform by offering solutions that save money while preserving or improving Medicare's slate of benefits.

-- "The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity"

Modernizing Medicare stands as a valuable, even indispensable, resource due to its focus on a single reform principle: premium support. Its conclusions, grounded in historical experiences from health insurance markets, show that one principle can significantly enhance Medicare's financial status and value proposition.

-- "Inquiry: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing"

A "must read for all those concerned with public finances and health policy . . . Modernizing Medicare will become the guidebook for the inevitable changes that must be made in Medicare.

-- "Health Affairs"

Bob Moffit and Marie Fishpaw deserve huge credit for enlisting these leading scholars to produce a volume of work that can be the Bible for a new president and a new Congress in Modernizing Medicare, saving the program by improving it through consumer choice and market competition.

-- "Forbes"

About the Author

Robert Emmet Moffit, PhD (SEVERNA PARK, MD), is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. He is a coauthor of Why Obamacare Is Wrong for America. Marie Fishpaw (WASHINGTON, DC) is a seasoned policy leader with extensive experience at the White House, the US Congress, and the Heritage Foundation. She is a coeditor of No Choice, No Exit: The Left's Plans for Your Health Care.