Medicare
Commentary
Medicare Can’t Afford Not To Cover Ozempic
The Trump administration has yet to decide whether Medicare will cover a revolutionary new class of weight-loss treatments, which include drugs like Zepbound and Wegovy. But a decision could be imminent, according to Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Speaking at an event at ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 27, 2025
Commentary
Lousy Medicare Insurance Is Worsening Outcomes For All Patients
Medicare’s long-term financial outlook is in dire straits. While spending is already historically high, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that, without fundamental reform, things will only get worse. According to the CBO, total government spending will grow from 23.3% of GDP in 2025 to 26.6% in 2055. Almost two-thirds ...
Wayne H Winegarden
October 14, 2025
Health Care
Dr. Wayne Winegarden – Competition is Key to Affordable, High-Quality Health Care
This week, Dr. Wayne Winegarden, director of PRI’s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation, joins us to discuss his new brief exploring how forthcoming restrictions in a state program serving dual-eligible Medicare and Medi-Cal enrollees will hurt patients. He discusses how the movement in government both in California and nationally ...
Pacific Research Institute
October 13, 2025
Commentary
Seniors Will Soon Pay the Price for Biden’s Medicare Misstep
Seniors can expect to pay more for their Medicare prescription drug insurance next year. And they have the Biden administration’s signature policy achievement — the Inflation Reduction Act — to thank. According to a recent announcement by the Trump administration, Medicare Part D drug benefit premiums are expected to increase ...
Sally C. Pipes
September 29, 2025
Commentary
Doctors and patients have endured enough pay cuts from Medicare
Doctors who treat Medicare beneficiaries are in for leaner times, judging from the program’s recently announced reimbursement update. And it will be those beneficiaries who will pay the price. The proposed changes to Medicare’s “fee schedule” would technically increase doctor reimbursement by 2.5%. But the government is also proposing to ...
Sally C. Pipes
September 22, 2025
Commentary
Business Policy CMS Shouldn’t Expand Its Broken Competitive Bidding Model
Durable medical equipment (DME) such as CPAP machines and hospital beds helps keep many patients out of expensive nursing home care and in their own homes. Unfortunately, creating the right payment model has long eluded the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Disconcertingly, they now plan to expand a ...
Wayne H Winegarden
September 12, 2025
Commentary
Doctors Deserve More Than a Token Pay ‘Raise’ from Medicare
The Trump administration is giving doctors a modest pay raise. A proposal released this month by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would, among other things, implement the 2.5% hike in Medicare physician reimbursement established by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Trump signed into law July ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 31, 2025
Commentary
America Doesn’t Have Enough Doctors. Medicare Is Making That Worse.
The United States is facing a shortage of 37,000 physicians, according to the latest research from the Association of American Medical Colleges. That deficit will more than double to 86,000 doctors by 2036. Medicare’s chronically low reimbursement rates deserve at least part of the blame. According to the American Medical ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 29, 2025
Commentary
Medicare Turns 60 This Month: It’s Time for an Intervention
On July 30, Medicare will mark its 60th birthday. Like many 60-year-olds, it’s in the throes of a midlife crisis. But unlike a harmless convertible purchase or spontaneous trip to Paris, this one midlife crisis threatens the nation’s fiscal health — and the well-being of future retirees. Read the entire ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 29, 2025
Commentary
What’s So Scary About Medicare Reform?
One of the biggest questions surrounding Senate Republicans’ version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act concerns the fate of Medicare. Earlier this month, GOP lawmakers were reportedly considering reforms aimed at reducing waste, fraud and abuse in the entitlement as a way to deliver savings for taxpayers. But as ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 20, 2025
Medicare Can’t Afford Not To Cover Ozempic
The Trump administration has yet to decide whether Medicare will cover a revolutionary new class of weight-loss treatments, which include drugs like Zepbound and Wegovy. But a decision could be imminent, according to Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Speaking at an event at ...
Lousy Medicare Insurance Is Worsening Outcomes For All Patients
Medicare’s long-term financial outlook is in dire straits. While spending is already historically high, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that, without fundamental reform, things will only get worse. According to the CBO, total government spending will grow from 23.3% of GDP in 2025 to 26.6% in 2055. Almost two-thirds ...
Dr. Wayne Winegarden – Competition is Key to Affordable, High-Quality Health Care
This week, Dr. Wayne Winegarden, director of PRI’s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation, joins us to discuss his new brief exploring how forthcoming restrictions in a state program serving dual-eligible Medicare and Medi-Cal enrollees will hurt patients. He discusses how the movement in government both in California and nationally ...
Seniors Will Soon Pay the Price for Biden’s Medicare Misstep
Seniors can expect to pay more for their Medicare prescription drug insurance next year. And they have the Biden administration’s signature policy achievement — the Inflation Reduction Act — to thank. According to a recent announcement by the Trump administration, Medicare Part D drug benefit premiums are expected to increase ...
Doctors and patients have endured enough pay cuts from Medicare
Doctors who treat Medicare beneficiaries are in for leaner times, judging from the program’s recently announced reimbursement update. And it will be those beneficiaries who will pay the price. The proposed changes to Medicare’s “fee schedule” would technically increase doctor reimbursement by 2.5%. But the government is also proposing to ...
Business Policy CMS Shouldn’t Expand Its Broken Competitive Bidding Model
Durable medical equipment (DME) such as CPAP machines and hospital beds helps keep many patients out of expensive nursing home care and in their own homes. Unfortunately, creating the right payment model has long eluded the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Disconcertingly, they now plan to expand a ...
Doctors Deserve More Than a Token Pay ‘Raise’ from Medicare
The Trump administration is giving doctors a modest pay raise. A proposal released this month by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would, among other things, implement the 2.5% hike in Medicare physician reimbursement established by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Trump signed into law July ...
America Doesn’t Have Enough Doctors. Medicare Is Making That Worse.
The United States is facing a shortage of 37,000 physicians, according to the latest research from the Association of American Medical Colleges. That deficit will more than double to 86,000 doctors by 2036. Medicare’s chronically low reimbursement rates deserve at least part of the blame. According to the American Medical ...
Medicare Turns 60 This Month: It’s Time for an Intervention
On July 30, Medicare will mark its 60th birthday. Like many 60-year-olds, it’s in the throes of a midlife crisis. But unlike a harmless convertible purchase or spontaneous trip to Paris, this one midlife crisis threatens the nation’s fiscal health — and the well-being of future retirees. Read the entire ...
What’s So Scary About Medicare Reform?
One of the biggest questions surrounding Senate Republicans’ version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act concerns the fate of Medicare. Earlier this month, GOP lawmakers were reportedly considering reforms aimed at reducing waste, fraud and abuse in the entitlement as a way to deliver savings for taxpayers. But as ...