Medicare is in shambles. Official government reports indicate that Medicare faces overwhelming long-term financial problems. Recent attempts to control costs through centralized government regulations and controls have led to a deterioration in the quality of care the program provides the elderly. The program is poorly structured for serving both young and old. Now is the time to begin making fundamental reforms to avert looming financial disaster and eliminate the program’s other serious problems.

Four innovative congressmen have taken the lead in proposing legislation that would do precisely that in a positive, constructive way. Reps. French Slaughter (R‑Va.), Philip Crane (R‑Ill.), Mark Siljander (R‑Mich.), and David Dreier (R‑Calif.) have introduced legislation providing for Health IRAs. Through this legislation, the long-term Medicare financing problem can be solved without benefit cuts for the elderly or payroll tax increases for workers.