title: Medicare's financial status: how did we get here?
abstract: Medicare's financial problems are rooted in the program's history--from the initial cost-estimating process through successive legislative and administrative actions to control costs. Even more important has been the persistence of several implicit national health care policies, and these are unlikely to change. Frequent readjustments of financing provisions may become a necessity.
mesh_terms: D002017:Budgets; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000639:trends; D005544:Forecasting; D006291:Health Policy / Q000639:trends; D007350:Insurance, Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D007357:Insurance, Physician Services / Q000191:economics; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics*; D011445:Prospective Payment System; D011907:Rate Setting and Review; D014481:United States