As part of broader efforts to reduce the federal debt or offset the cost of other spending priorities, policymakers have proposed an increase in Medicare premiums for higher-income beneficiaries, and restrictions on Medigap supplemental coverage. On Monday, January 13, 2014, the Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation hosted a briefing to discuss what we know about the health and economic security of Medicare beneficiaries today, as well as how current and future beneficiaries may be affected by the leading proposals that aim to achieve Medicare savings.

Five briefs were released at the briefing, including:

• Raising Medicare Premiums for Higher-Income Beneficiaries: Assessing the Implications
• Medigap Reform: Setting the Context for Understanding Recent Proposals
• Medicare and the Federal Budget: Comparison of Medicare Provisions in Recent Federal Debt and Deficit Reduction Proposals
• Health Care on a Budget: The Financial Burden of Health Spending by Medicare Households
• Income and Assets of Medicare Beneficiaries, 2013-2030

The panel was co-moderated by Ed Howard of the Alliance and Tricia Neuman of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Speakers included:

• Dan Perry, president, Alliance for Aging Research
• Gretchen Jacobson, associate director of Medicare Policy, Kaiser Family Foundation
• Jim Capretta, senior fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
• Marilyn Moon, director of the Center on Aging, American Institutes for Research