A premium support (voucher) proposal for Medicare will be introduced into the U.S. Congress in 1999. To explain this proposal to the public, the National Coalition to Protect, Improve, and Expand Medicare has published a report entitled “Rebuilding Medicare for the 21st Century.” The lead author of the report here presents some questions and answers on the main topics under discussion.
References
1.
BodenheimerT.Rebuilding Medicare for the 21st Century: A Challenge for the Medicare Commission and Congress. National Coalition to Protect, Improve, and Expand Medicare, San Francisco, February 1999. Available from www.medicare4all.org
2.
WareJ. E.Differences in four-year health outcomes for elderly and poor, chronically ill patients treated in HMO and fee-for-service systems; results from the Medical Outcomes Study. JAMA276: 1039–1047, 1996.
3.
SheilsJ.FishmanA., The Lewin Group. Comprehensive Medicare Reform: Defined Benefit vs. Defined Contribution. The National Coalition on Health Care, Washington, D.C., September 1998.
