Medicare is in much better financial shape as a result of the new healthcare reform law, which has extended the life of the nation’s largest health benefits program by 12 years, the Obama administration reported Thursday.
The sunny outlook comes with some asterisks: Not only do the projections fall short of what many Democrats had envisioned from their reform law, but they also assume that Medicare physicians will take a steep pay cut this fall — something Congress will likely step in to prevent.
“As impressive as these achievements are,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner conceded Thursday, “there is still work to be done.”
The much anticipated report — authored by the trustees charged with gauging the solvency of Social Security and Medicare each year — projected that Medicare’s hospital trust fund will remain solvent through 2029 — 12 years longer than the same group projected a year ago.
Full story: Trustees report finds healthcare reform to extend Medicare’s life by 12 years – The Hill’s Healthwatch