Two Yale University scholars recently analyzed proposals to reform Medicare and concluded many of those efforts would undercut Medicare’s ability to serve its core purpose of social insurance. In an article on the Health Affairs web site, Theodore Marmor and Jerry Mashaw contend that “the core features of social insurance arrangements are both economically sensible and socially and politically acceptable.” They go on to say that while programs such as Medicare must change over time, reform efforts that emphasize increased risk for individuals and enhanced market competition conflict with the basic structure of social insurance programs.
