Medicare reform.

Finally, someone is starting to focus on the inability of private health plans to provide Medicare benefits -- including the drug benefit under consideration by a conference committee in Congress -- at anything remotely resembling lower costs (to beneficiaries or to the Medicare program itself). According to an article in today's New York Times, out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare enrollees in existing private health plans have doubled since 1999. Anyone who thinks privatizing the Medicare program will be a panacea for projected budget increases, especially in light of the-pharmacy-benefit-we-really-can't-afford, needs to take a look at the report that the Times' article was based upon, which was issued today by the Commonwealth Fund.