A Solution for Solvency Need Not Be Radical, Just Bipartisan

[LiberalAndProud]

Ronald Brownstein:
Washington Outlook

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-outlook12feb12,1,327855.column?ctrack=1&cset=true

Possibly one of the last known copies of the 1995 Kerrey-Danforth entitlement commission report sits on a bookshelf in my office. The report is great to look at, with colorful charts that show the federal budget drowning under a tide of spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

But the study disappeared without a trace.
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Bush deserves credit for spotlighting a genuine problem. As America grays through this century, it will face an unsustainable gap between anticipated federal revenues and promised spending for Medicare, Medicaid and, to a lesser extent, Social Security. In 1990, those three programs cost an amount equal to 6.7% of America's economy. The Office of Management and Budget projected last week that that number was on track to more than double, to 14.3%, by 2040.
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Even with tough cuts and higher taxes, Washington won't tame the entitlement problem without also slowing the overall increase in healthcare costs — the crucial factor in government's rising tab for the elderly. That won't happen without comprehensive healthcare reform, an issue Washington hasn't addressed since the collapse of Clinton's universal coverage plan in 1994.