LBJ and Harry Truman at the Medicare signing ceremony, July 30, 1965

LBJ and Harry Truman at the Medicare signing ceremony, July 30, 1965

“The Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund is projected to be solvent for longer, which is good news for beneficiaries,” said Marilyn Tavenner, who runs the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. “Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, we are taking important steps to improve the delivery of care for seniors with Medicare.” [...] “These reforms aim to reduce spending while improving the quality of care, and are an important down payment on solving Medicare’s long term financial issues,” Tavenner said.

These long-run gains are matched by short-term relief: the Trustees also project that the Part B premium will not increase between 2013 and 2014, keeping out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries down. Medicare cost growth has remained at historically low levels over the past three years even as new benefits for preventive care and prescription drugs have helped tens of millions of beneficiaries access care at lower cost. The law reduces prescription drug costs by closing the donut hole, a policy that has already saved more than 6 million seniors more than $700 each. And more than 32 million seniors have accessed a free preventive service under the law, helping them stay healthy and avoid future illness.

The annual Medicare trustees' report [pdf] has been released, and it reaffirms the various reports we've seen over the last year of health care spending slowing down. The viability of Medicare has been extended by two years, projected to remain fully solvent until 2026; last year’s projection was 2024. The extension is attributable to Obamacare, says the Medicare chief In a White House blog post, Jeanne Lambrew, deputy assistant to the president for health policy, and top economic adviser Gene Sperling, add more good news The important political implication out of this is that cuts to Medicare, particularly benefits cuts that have been floated in President Obama's grand bargain offers like increased cost-shifting or an eligibility age increase, are unnecessary and shouldn't be offered up just as bargaining chips. The projected shortfall in Medicare has fallen by almost 70 percent since 2008, and we're on a path that's keeping the program sustainable. Extending Medicare's solvency is critical, but it's happening now without punitive benefits cuts. Making those cuts now, just to cut a deal, wouldn't just be unnecessary, it'd be irresponsible.