Right Now
Sep 05 2013
Medicare Actuary: Coburn-Lieberman Medicare Plan Saves $535 B, Could Extend Program’s Solvency for Decades
On September 5, 2013, Dr. Coburn and former Senator Joe Lieberman sent House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Chairman Camp a letter regarding the “Bipartisan Plan to Save Medicare” which they proposed two years ago.
In the letter, Dr. Coburn and Sen. Lieberman applaud the Committee’s transparent process of using hearings on entitlement reform as a means to evaluate a variety of proposals to protect and preserve the program.
Enclosed with the letter the plan’s authors also enclosed:
- A summary of their 2011 “Bipartisan Proposal to Save Medicare & Reduce Debt”
- Draft legislative text of their proposal
- An analysis of the effects of their proposal by the Office of the Actuary (OACT) at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
OACT found the Lieberman-Coburn plan would reduce Medicare outlays by more than $535 billion over a decade and keep Medicare solvent for the next several decades. The CMS Actuary also found that if the base premium increase was removed from their proposal, premiums under their plan would be lower than current law (pg. 6 of the memo).
