Since the remedy to the "fiscal cliff" did not include structural reforms to Medicare and Medicaid and since Congressional Republicans will call for entitlement savings during the upcoming debt ceiling debate and beyond, Ms. Sarah Kliff, Health Reporter for The Washington Post and Ms. Amy Lotven, Editor/Reporter for Inside Health Policy, discuss what reforms to Medicare and Medicaid are on the table during this session of the 113th Congress. During this 32 minute podcast raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67, Medicare means testing, the Medicare Independent Payment Advisory Board, the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (the "doc fix"), reforms to the Medicaid program and other related issues to reduce federal health care spending are discussed.
Sarah Kliff covers health policy for the Washington Post. Previously, Sarah wrote for Politico, where she authored Politico Pulse. Prior to Politico, Sarah was a staff writer at Newsweek covering national politics. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Kaiser Family Foundation and USC Annenberg School of Journalism.
Amy Lotven has been for the past five years a health policy editor and reporter at Inside Health Policy. She has worked previously for newspapers in New Mexico, New York and North Carolina. She did her journalism training at Baruch College.
Interview With Sarah Kliff and Amy Lotven on What Medicare and Medicaid Reforms Might We See in 2013 (January 8, 2013)