Delay in Consideration of Medicare ‘Trigger’ Bill Indicates Lack of Concern About Long-Term Financial Problems, Editorial States

A recent vote by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and "her health care enforcers" to "deactivate a warning that entitlement spending is running amok" indicates that Congress does not plan to address the long-term financial problems of Medicare, a Wall Street Journal editorial states (Wall Street Journal, 8/2).

The House recently approved a resolution that delayed consideration of a Medicare "trigger" bill proposed by President Bush for the remainder of the 110th Congress. The resolution does not require Senate action. Under the 2003 Medicare law, the president must propose such legislation in the event that trustees issue two consecutive funding warnings -- estimates that federal general fund revenue will finance more than 45% of total program costs within seven years. In April 2007, the trustees issued a second consecutive warning (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/25).

The "trigger doesn't actually require any cost-savings, much less real discipline," the editorial states, adding, "All it does is oblige the political class to nod at Medicare's deteriorating finances." However, "even that minor annoyance is too much for Democrats," the editorial states. The legislation proposed by Bush "would merely slow the rate of spending growth enough to shut off the 45% trigger," according to the editorial. "The trigger reminds people of how spendthrift and taxing the budget for Medicare already is -- even when it's reserved only for seniors," and "a vote might draw attention from the otherwise sleepy Capitol Hill press corps," the editorial adds.

According to the editorial, "Democrats have tried repeatedly since 2006 to abolish the trigger because it gets in the way of their health care agenda," and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) "has plans for a slow-motion roll toward 'Medicare for all,' the ultimate goal of Democratic health policy." The editorial concludes, "The House vote stalls action until the next administration, when Democrats will almost certainly dump the trigger entirely" (Wall Street Journal, 8/2).