How Much Will Medicare Spending Rise in the Coming Decade? - Health Blog - WSJ

By James A. White

The CBO budget report released today says the growth in Medicare and Medicaid spending during the next decade “will be somewhat slower than the average rate seen over the past 10 years.”

Sounds too good to be true — and it almost certainly is. As is standard operating procedure for the CBO, its cost estimates build in savings that are planned under current law. In the case of Medicare, CBO’s calculation of a slowdown in Medicare growth includes a substantial 21% cut in payments to doctors now slated to go into effect in March.

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