Financing Medicare

Options for strengthening the Medicare program to with-stand severe fiscal challenges in the next century range from short-term fixes to long-term changes, as reflected in the papers in this chapter. The medicare program finances the health care of 38 million elderly and disabled Americans and will spend more than $200 billion in 1997. It is the second largest entitlement program; only Social Security is larger. Still, the growth of Medicare spending has long been far faster than spending in other major federal programs or the growth of the economy itself. This trend is projected to continue unless America makes substantial