Medicare Costs Have Risen Far More than the Costs of Private Health Care

Four decades of empirical evidence have shown that the costs of government-run health care have risen far more than the costs of privately purchased care, suggesting that American health costs will likely accelerate if ObamaCare goes into effect.  Since 1970, Medicare’s costs have risen 34% more, per patient, than the combined costs of all health care in America apart from Medicare and Medicaid.  This is true despite very generous treatment of Medicare, such as counting the Medicare prescription drug program as part of privately purchased care, counting health care purchased privately by Medicare beneficiaries (including Medicare copayments and Medigap insurance) among the costs of private care, and not adjusting for significant cost-shifting from Medicare to private entities.