The New York Times last month published an analysis of Medicare spending trends and concluded that, contrary to the program’s budget busting reputation, annual cost growth has been moderate over the past decade or so. The implication is that the scramble to find more Medicare savings to narrow current and projected federal deficits should be reevaluated, given that previous predictions of runaway costs were off the mark.
James C. Capretta is a resident fellow and holds the Milton Friedman chair at the American Enterprise Institute.
