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A12 HEALTH
Monday 15 august 2022

In this Aug. 8, 2020, photo a patient's vital signs are displayed on a monitor at a hospital in Portland,
Ore.
Associated Press
What Medicare Part A's belly-up date

means for you

KATE ASHFORD to participate in the Medi- not really changing the
of NerdWallet care program." overall cost or sustainability
At its current pace, Medi- It's important to understand of the program."
care's Hospital Insurance that Medicare's Hospital In- For Medicare beneficiaries,
trust fund will run out of surance trust fund doesn't this change could mean
money in 2028, according finance all of Medicare — that some post-acute ser-
to the June 2022 Medicare it funds Medicare Part A, or vices that are covered
trustees report. That's a hospital insurance. Medi- 100% under Part A could
two-year extension on the care Part B, which cov- be subject to the Part B
previous estimate, but ex- ers doctor's appointments deductible and 20% coin-
perts say it's still not good and outpatient care, and surance, unless the ben-
news, and the government Medicare Part D, which eficiary has a Medigap or
needs to stop twiddling its covers prescription drugs, Medicare Advantage plan
thumbs. Here's what you are funded mainly out of that covers some costs.
should know. patient premiums and the Modernize the Medicare
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE TRUST government's general rev- drug benefit
FUND IS DEPLETED? enues. When Medicare Part D was
If the Medicare Hospital In- WHAT ARE THE MOST LIKELY introduced in 2006, there
surance trust fund is deplet- FIXES? weren't as many expen-
ed, it doesn't mean Medi- There are several ways the sive specialty drugs on the
care Part A will implode. government could handle market. Today, the govern-
But the program won't the situation, from tweak- ment foots the majority of
have enough revenues to ing service coverage to the bill for high-cost drugs.
cover all operating costs, redirecting revenues. Here Lowering drug costs and
by a shortfall of about 10% are a few options: applying those savings to
starting in 2029. Move some Medicare Part the Part A trust fund is an
"This part of the Medicare A services to Part B option.
program won't be able to Some experts have sug- Current legislation in Con-
make payments to health gested that the govern- gress would help Medicare
care providers and health ment could shift some post- beneficiaries spend less on
insurers that are due, and acute services — such as prescription drugs and de-
those payments will be- physical therapy or nursing crease costs for specific
come increasingly delayed management after a hos- high-cost drugs over time.
over time," says Matthew pital stay — from Part A to "The Senate bill includes
Fiedler, a senior fellow with Part B. an important moderniza-
the USC-Brookings Schaef- "That makes the Part A trust tion of Medicare's drug
fer Initiative for Health Pol- fund look better, because benefit, to provide more
icy. you've taken some of the comprehensive coverage
This backlog could result expenses off the books," for Medicare beneficiaries
in a big financial shock to says Dr. Mark McClellan , with high drug costs and to
hospitals that rely on Medi- the Robert J. Margolis pro- get Medicare's drug plans
care revenues to operate. fessor of business, medicine to negotiate more aggres-
Ultimately, Fiedler says , and policy at Duke Univer- sively with drug manufac-
"hospitals might rethink the sity, who holds a doctorate turers," McClellan says.q
extent to which they want in economics. "But that's