Rep. Paul Ryan claims that huge savings under Medicare's Part D prescription drug program proves that competition will work for the full program. His critics argue that the savings have nothing to do with competition. As happens so often in Washington, both sides are focusing on the wrong issue.

Medicare is facing a fiscal calamity: how can the growth of Medicare spending be limited while ensuring that beneficiaries continue to have access to affordable health care?

The primary drivers of our growing debt burden are the “Big 3” entitlements of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Yet as part of the debt ceiling deal that created sequestration when the Super Committee failed, politicians effectively fenced off nearly two-thirds of the federal budget and the main source of our over-spending. 

The launch of the Medicare Part D program to cover prescription drugs for seniors was one of the biggest changes in entitlement spending since the 1960s. What has the impact of this program been on patients and the U.S. health care system? Emerging data on the pharmaceutical industry in particular...

President Obama launched a blistering attack Tuesday on Rep. Paul Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity” economic and fiscal plan and Mitt Romney’s embrace of it — and Romney responded that night by “hugging” Ryan even tighter.

Scholars from AEI and elsewhere answer key questions about Medicare drug coverage and government controls.

Reform of Medicare is inevitable given the current debt limit debate. Democrats introduced a plan to reduce spending on Medicare Part D based on the presumption that manufacturers make extraordinary profits from the government. This means premiums for seniors and government spending on Medicare will likely increase, offsetting any savings.

Health care policy and health care reform are back in the news in a big way. The Supreme Court is poised to hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of the 2010 health care overhaul. The Obama administration has just released guidelines for the operation of the state-based insurance exchanges that are the backbone of the law.