Karen Davis
Medicare Turns Thirty, Testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, Karen Davis, The Commonwealth Fund, February 28, 1995
Excerpts from Senate Finance Committee Testimony by Karen Davis, Commonwealth Fund President
Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund, joins Bruce C. Vladeck, Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, Department of Health and Human Services; and Gail R. Wilensky, Senior Fellow, Project HOPE, in testifying before the Senate Finance Committee about the Medicare program on Tuesday, February 28 in room SD-215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, beginning at 9:30 AM.
Davis' testimony notes that when Medicare was enacted 30 years ago, most elderly were uninsured, having lost their health insurance on retirement. Today, the program covers 37 million older Americans, many of whom have limited financial resources, and serious disabling conditions.
Her testimony concludes that there are few attractive alternatives for reducing Medicare outlays and that any changes must be designed with care to avoid unintended consequences that are harmful either to vulnerable beneficiaries or to the health system that provides accessible, high quality care.
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