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Saving Money on Cardiac Care
Medicare is smart to end more fee-for-service payments.
Finally, an easy way to pay for this.
Photographer: Bob Riha, Jr./Childrens Hospital Los Angeles via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The federal government's own actuaries are once again pessimistic that America's health-care costs will continue their slow growth. Thankfully, their boss, Sylvia Burwell, the secretary of Health and Human Services, is working hard to prove them wrong. On Monday, she took another big step in the right direction.
Medicare costs this year are up only 4 percent, which means that on an inflation-adjusted basis, spending per beneficiary is declining. And that’s been the pattern of the past five years -- despite the actuaries’ repeated predictions that cost growth is on the verge of picking up.