Unwinding the Medicare Ponzi Scheme – A Thought Experiment

The U.S. Federal Government is currently borrowing 40% of every thing it spends and in March disbursements were eight times as much as income.  Rep. Paul Ryan has proposed a “roadmap” to reduce deficit spending and lower our national debt, but a significant portion of his plan pushes cuts of any significance many years, if not decades, into the future. His “premium-support” Medicare plan begins for retirees in 2021. In this podcast, AAPS Executive Director Jane Orient, MD and host Michael Ostrolenk explore another Medicare scenario that could begin immediately, would give Seniors more control over their care (and money), saves 2 Trillion more than Ryan, and perhaps could unwind the current Medicare Ponzi scheme that created a Medicare trust fund full of IOUs.  Read more on this topic in a recent article by Dr. Orient, “Mr. Ryan, We’ll See You, and Raise You $2 Trillion”.