Medicare's Midlife Crisis
(Cato Institute, 2001)
BOOK FORUMThursday, November 8, 2001
4:00 p.m.
Featuring the author, Sue A. Blevins; with comments by Daniel "Stormy" Johnson, Past President, American Medical Association; Joseph Antos, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute.
The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Watch the Event in Real Video
Listen to the Event in Real Audio (Audio Only)Read the event transcript (PDF, 66 pp, 117 kb)
Most Americans, and even most seniors, know little or nothing about Medicare and the efforts being made to reform it. In her new book, Medicare's Midlife Crisis, Sue Blevins examines the program's origins, evolution, and future policy options. She points out that even before Medicare was created in 1965, more than three out of four seniors were protected by a safety net for medical assistance and the average life expectancy for older Americans was on the rise. Blevins argues that the growth of Medicare forced seniors into a regime that restricts their health care choices, fails to protect them against catastrophic medical costs, jeopardizes the doctor-patient relationship, and threatens to invade their medical privacy. Please join us as Blevins reviews the lessons revealed from the history of Medicare, while Stormy Johnson and Joseph Antos suggest key policy changes needed to reform Medicare today.