Government Programs Tend to Get Cheaper and More Efficient Over Time
vict0r
don't they?
mg
> don't they?
Yes, they do. Take these figures, for instance:
Medicare Administrative Costs Over Time
1967, 17.0%
1985, 7.2%
2003, 5.2%
2010, 3.3%
2017, 2.4%
2025, 1.6%
http://www.cahi.org/cahi_contents/resources/pdf/CAHIMedicareTechnicalPaper.pdf
The government employee retirement plan (TSP) is another example. In
1988 their expense ratio was almost 0.40%. Now it's less than 0.10%
http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/205735/Core%20Course-Nov%209-Petrick.pdf
wy
> On Nov 10, 12:05 pm, "vict0r" <l...@oocom.netb> wrote:
>
> > don't they?
>
> Yes, they do. Take these figures, for instance:
>
> Medicare Administrative Costs Over Time
> 1967, 17.0%
> 1985, 7.2%
> 2003, 5.2%
> 2010, 3.3%
> 2017, 2.4%
> 2025, 1.6%
>
>
> The government employee retirement plan (TSP) is another example. In
I don't think that's the answer he was looking for. You probably
disappointed him.
f. barnes
> On Nov 10, 12:05 pm, "vict0r" <l...@oocom.netb> wrote:
>
> > don't they?
>
> Yes, they do. Take these figures, for instance:
>
> Medicare Administrative Costs Over Time
> 1967, 17.0%
> 1985, 7.2%
> 2003, 5.2%
> 2010, 3.3%
> 2017, 2.4%
> 2025, 1.6%
>
>
> The government employee retirement plan (TSP) is another example. In
From the study:
"The average annual cost per person under Medicare is more than double
that under private health insurance. In 2003, the average medical cost
for Medicare is estimated to be about $6,600 per person per year,
while the average medical cost for private health insurance, excluding
out-of-pocket cost is $2,700 per person per year."
wy
The only way to look at it that makes any sense is against GDP. Since
the U.S. is about the only country that emphasizes private insurance
over a government-run one, there's got to be something gravely wrong
with it when its expenses far exceed that of other nations, most of
which have some form of government-run system that includes the total
population from cradle to grave and not excludes millions and
threatens millions more with bankruptcy and lost homes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:International_Comparison_-_Healthcare_spending_as_%25_GDP.png
vict0r
> On Nov 10, 12:05 pm, "vict0r" <l...@oocom.netb> wrote:
>> don't they?
>
> Yes, they do. Take these figures, for instance:
>
> Medicare Administrative Costs Over Time
> 1967, 17.0%
> 1985, 7.2%
> 2003, 5.2%
> 2010, 3.3%
> 2017, 2.4%
> 2025, 1.6%
Below your chart it says this:
======================
"Medicare administrative costs decrease [over time] because Medicare benefit
costs increase at a
higher rate than administrative cost increases. Benefit costs have
typically been
about double normal inflation (CPI increases) whereas administrative costs
typically
increase near the CPI rate."
======================
1.) Medicare enrollees are more expensive per person because of
age/disability.
2.) Medicare admin. costs are expressed as a ratio of admin. costs divided
by total costs.
Therefore, the more people enrolled in medicare _over time_, the lower the
admin. costs will appear to be due to economies of scale. This merely shows
that either medicare rolls are exploding, OR that Medicare costs are
exploding beyond the original estimate of the wise men who created it in
1967 (it's actually both). Thanks for making that point.
and this:
==============================
"Because of the higher cost per beneficiary, Medicare's method of
calculation makes administrative costs, albeit unintentionally, appear to
be lower than they really are. Indeed, if the numbers were adequately
"handicapped," they would be in the 6 to 8 percent range."
-Medicare's Hidden Administrative Costs
http://www.cahi.org/cahi_contents/resources/pdf/CAHI_Medicare_Admin_Final_Publication.pdf
==============================
That paper goes on to illustrate many ways which Medicare admin. costs are
hidden, ignored, and unreported.
But I said more efficient _and_ cheaper. You didn't provide a cite showing
how Medicare has become less expensive over time. Probably an oversight on
your part. Let me help you:
=========================================
In 1965, Medicare was predicted to cost $26 billion in 2003; the actual cost
that year was $245 billion. Medicare's unfunded liability currently hovers
around $40 trillion.
http://www.heartland.org/publications/budget%20tax/article/14901/Medicare_Will_Be_Bankrupt_by_2019.html
=========================================
> http://www.cahi.org/cahi_contents/resources/pdf/CAHIMedicareTechnicalPaper.pdf
>
> The government employee retirement plan (TSP) is another example. In
> 1988 their expense ratio was almost 0.40%. Now it's less than 0.10%
> http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/205735/Core%20Course-Nov%209-Petrick.pdf
----------------------------------
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board was established as an
independent agency of the United States government by the Federal Employees
Retirement System Act of 1986. It is one of the smaller executive branch
agencies, with just over 80 employees. It was established to administer the
Thrift Savings Plan, which provides Federal employees the opportunity to
save for additional retirement security.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Retirement_Thrift_Investment_Board
----------------------------------
So...
- Independent goverment agency, not burdened by constant
meddling/micromanaging from congress
- Small government agency, not a sprawling bureaucracy
- the board is mostly sage talent recruited from the private sector
http://www.tsp.gov/features/def_ch1-board-members.pdf
And four of the five funds of the TSP are run by private sector Barclays
PLC:
-------------------------------------
a.. G fund[3] - Government Securities fund. These are unique government
securities, backed by the full faith and credit of the US Government,
available only through the G Fund.
b.. F Fund[4] - Fixed Income Index fund. Invested in Barclays U.S. Debt
Index Fund. Tracks the Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index.
c.. C fund[5] - Common Stock Index fund. Invested in Barclays Equity Index
Fund. Replicates the total return version[6] of the S&P 500 index.
d.. S Fund[7] - Small Capitalization Stock Index fund. Invested in
Barclays Extended Market Index Fund. Tracks the float-adjusted total return
version[6] of the Wilshire 4500 Completion index.
e.. I Fund[8] - International Stock Index fund. Invested in Barclays EAFE
Index Fund. Replicates the net version[6] of the MSCI EAFE index.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrift_Savings_Plan
------------------------------------
I'm not at all suprised they are doing well. But again, are you trying to
make
your point, or mine?
Christopher Helms
The insurance industry sez there's nothing wrong with ripping sick
people off, just as long as you know how to keep the Congressional
wheels greased while you do it. .
sr
"mg" <mgke...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:94072157-5a76-4ac3...@f20g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
http://www.cahi.org/cahi_contents/resources/pdf/CAHIMedicareTechnicalPaper.pdf
> == for those that need an education in government programs
http://reason.com/archives/1993/01/01/the-medicare-monster
Following the Democratic landslide in the election of 1964, which gave
Democrats a 2-to-1 majority in both houses of Congress, President Lyndon
Johnson exerted his influence to stack the Ways and Means Committee with new
Democrats sympathetic to Medicare. snip
Medicare proposal covered only hospital expenses but not costs for doctors,
surgeons, dentists, and other outpatient services.snip
The costs of the Medicaid program, which requires state matching funds,
(now threaten to bankrupt many states.) "The
cost will not be greater than our present efficient [sic] and( wasteful
fee-for-service system. ) Sound familiar? Obama care This was the sells
job in 1965
According to experts the charge to the average family under a national
health-insurance program will actually be less than it pays now, partly
because the employer and government will contribute to the fund."snip
PREDICTION:
Anticipating a 3.5-percent annual inflation rate, government actuaries
predicted that the cost of a day's hospital stay by 1985 would be $155 and
that the hospital insurance portion of Medicare would cost $9 billion by
1990.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:
The actual average cost of a hospital day by 1985 was over $600; instead of
$9 billion, the hospital-insurance program cost $63 billion in 1990.
The original 1965 cost projections allowed for a 10-percent increase in
hospital-admission rates among the elderly, but in fact hospital-admission
rates among the Medicare-eligible rose immediately by 25 percent, the rates
for surgical procedure by 40 percent, and the number of hospital days by 50
percent.
http://reason.com/archives/1993/01/01/the-medicare-monster/