Medicare at 40:

Past Accomplishments and Future Challenges
http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/health/medicare_40.pdf

According to the latest projections by the
AARP Public Policy Institute, in 2003, non-institutionalized Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and
older spent 22 percent of their income (or $3,455), on average, for health care, including
Medicare cost-sharing, Part B and private insurance premiums, and the costs of goods and
services not covered by Medicare.15 (This estimate excludes the cost of long-term nursing home care and the costs of home care.)

According to the most recent projections of national health expenditures, Medicare
spending is projected to grow by 7.3 percent annually between 2006 and 2014

Medicare program spending is highly concentrated in beneficiaries with chronic conditions: about one-quarter (23%) of Medicare beneficiaries have at least 5 chronic conditions and account for about two-thirds (68%) of Medicare fee-for-service expenditures

A clear Statement of Medicare positioning in the current health care world. The Study makes much of the prospective patient system, which is only a corruption of the average per-visit payment system, solely for the purpose of granting the health care industry higher levels of payment. The Average Per-Visit system could pay $100/Patient Clinic/Doctor visit, care for all Patients (not just Medicare patients), and provide all Expense and Doctor recompensation; the Doctors allowed to determine specific method of treatment. $1000/Outpatient Hospital Visit would care for all Patients (again beyond Medicare), and pay for Hospital Outcare. $2000/Hospital Day would pay for all Patient care, if Government or Medicare paid upfront for all expensive Hospital equipment; this bought competitively and distributed evenly, with Medicare preemption right to treatment use. Estimated Medicare Savings per year: $85 billion with individual enrollee savings of $880 with attendent average Medicare use per year. lgl