HEALTH-CARE REFORM AND THE MEDICARE PROGRAM

None of the health care reform bills introduced during the last session of Congress would have ended the depending Medicare fiscal crisis. Delays in resolving Medicare's fiscal problems will increase generational inequities and cause disruptions in health care delivery. Because of the pressures of increasing health care costs on government, business, and individuals, comprehensive health care reform will be deliberated in future sessions of Congress. It remains to be seen, though, whether policymakers will be able to develop reforms that address the basic problem of rising health care costs.