OMB Director Nussle Addresses New York Times Editorial On Financial Problems For Medicare In Letter To The Editor

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 02 Apr 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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A March 28 New York Times editorial described the "symptoms" but offered no "remedy" to the financial problems that Medicare faces, Jim Nussle, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, writes in a Times letter to the editor. According to Nussle, "Medicare needs small adjustments now to prevent a drastic overhaul later."

Nussle writes that President Bush "has proposed a responsible option that reflects common sense: Medicare should grow at a healthy 5% instead of growing at an unsustainable clip of 7.2%." The "size of the president's proposal is slightly smaller than the bipartisan Medicare agreement from a decade ago," and the plan would "shave off nearly 30% of the $36 trillion unfunded obligation in Medicare over the next 75 years," he writes, adding, "I'd call that a smart start that's good for taxpayers, beneficiaries and the budget."

According to Nussle, the editorial stated that "Congress 'wisely balked' at the administration's specific proposals." However, he writes, "what did Congressional Democrats offer? So far, nothing. Doing nothing is irresponsible and unfair to future generations." Nussle concludes that, although the editorial "suggests that health care inflation -- not Medicare -- is the real problem," such an argument "ignores the fact the government is the largest purchaser of health care and that Medicare policies are a primary driver of health care inflation" (Nussle, New York Times, 4/1).

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