As for Medicare, Trump proposes to pare more than $500 billion from the program through a series of ill-defined initiatives on “wasteful spending, fraud, and abuse,” a catch-all category that includes reducing reimbursements to hospitals and other providers caring for patients. The historical record of such promises is not auspicious. Typically the fraud-busters find a lot less to wring out of the system than they project, but they use the claims of widespread fraud to rationalize program cuts. Medicare advocates would have to watch this very carefully.

Source: Los Angeles Times March 12, 2019 18:22 UTC