Congress needs to reform Medicare and Medicaid to improve their integrity and sustainability, according to a Nov. 17 report issued by the Government Accountability Office.
"Absent reform, Medicare's and Medicaid's long-term fiscal sustainability for supporting healthcare for elderly, disabled and low-income Americans is in jeopardy," the GAO said.
In its GAO-07-235R Potential Oversight report listing agenda recommendations for the 110th Congress, the GAO listed Medicare and Medicaid among U.S. policies and programs that are in need of fundamental reform and re-engineering.
"We cannot afford to continue business as usual in Washington, given our current deficit and growing long-term fiscal challenges," David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, told Congressional leaders in a letter accompanying the report. "Most of the federal government's current policies, programs, functions and activities are based on conditions that existed decades ago, are not results-based, and are not well aligned with 21st century realities."
Medicare spending is estimated to be 3.2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product in 2006 and is expected to increase to 7.3 percent of the GDP by 2035, the GAO said.
According to the GAO, Congress should:
• Modernize Medicare payment policies to reward quality and efficiency and foster fiscal discipline while preserving access to care;
• Assess the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' managerial oversight of Medicare, including efforts to ensure program integrity, and provide information to assist beneficiaries in making choices about the prescription drug benefit;
• Reform Medicaid to curtail states' use of financing schemes to inappropriately obtain federal matching funds;
• And ensure that initiatives to restructure Medicaid eligibility and benefits are budget neutral.