The recently passed tax bill “will mean less health insurance for individuals; less coverage for elderly and poor Americans; less revenue for doctors, hospitals, and myriad health care businesses; and, quite possibly, a less-healthy, less-productive workforce,” says Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal, M.D., in a new editorial for Harvard Business Review.
In a related To the Point post, the Commonwealth Fund’s Eric Schneider, M.D., Arnav Shah, and Shawn Bishop explain how the tax law is likely to accelerate deficit spending while ignoring Medicare beneficiaries’ growing needs. “For the more than 80 million Americans who will need Medicare coverage in 2030, the tax bill sets up needlessly painful decisions that will affect their health and financial security in the future,” the authors say.