Paul Ryan’s Medicare Misconceptions

thedailybeast.com — Paul Ryan’s elevation to the national stage has triggered heightened interest in the critical debate on the future of Medicare. We should welcome and engage it. The outcome will affect the health and quality of life of every American, either immediately or at some point in the future. Thus far, candidates Romney and Ryan have focused exclusively on the size and sustainability of the Medicare budget. But that misses the most important factor in this debate: one can’t address rising Medicare costs without also addressing our nation’s health-care costs in total. Neither Medicare nor any other health-related program in the country can survive unless we contain health costs sectorwide. But to do that successfully policymakers must take three fundamental realities into account.

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