The Medicare Trustees Report is among the most significant in the program's forty-five–year history. Congress imposed $485 billion in cuts to Medicare payments for health care services and $210 billion in new Medicare taxes to finance the expansion of health insurance. A new Independent Advisory Board will make binding recommendations for further cost cutting.

How will this affect seniors' access to health care? Will these policies improve Medicare?

Richard Foster, chief actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, presented the findings of this year's Medicare Trustees Report. A panel discussion followed and included Joseph Antos, resident scholar at AEI; Walton Francis, an independent health policy consultant; Paul Van de Water, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; and Gail Wilensky, economist and senior fellow at Project HOPE.