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1994.03.11 : Medicare Payments Growth Rate for FY 1993

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                 Contact: Anne Verano
Friday, March 11, 1994                         (202) 690-6145

     Medicare payments for health care services in fiscal year 1993
averaged $3,940 for each enrollee, up 8.7 percent from the per-
capita amount in FY 1992, the Health Care Financing Administration
announced today.

     The FY 1993 growth rate of per-capita benefit payments was
down sharply from the 11.5 percent increase in FY 1992.

     "The Medicare program, the nation's largest health insurer,
has a special responsibility to demonstrate leadership in the
efficient use of health care resources," said Bruce C. Vladeck,
administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration.

     "The lower rate of increase shows progress in cost
containment, but both public and private sectors must put forth
stronger efforts to moderate health care costs," he said.

     Total Medicare benefit payments in FY 1993 were $142.9
billion, an increase of 10.6 percent from the FY 1992 level.  Some
of this increase is attributable to a 1.7 percent growth of the
Medicare population in FY 1993.  Enrollment in Medicare, which
serves the elderly and disabled, increased by more than 600,000 in
FY 1993 to reach 36.3 million.  

     Vladeck said HCFA "is aggressively using a variety of methods
to gain better control of Medicare program costs while assuring the
quality of care for beneficiaries."  He said HCFA is committed to:

     * Continuing development and refinement of payment policies 
that offer incentives to providers to limit costs; 

     * Greater efficiency through total automation of claims     
processing and payment functions;

     * More effective screening of claims to detect errors, fraud
and abuse;

     * Enforcement of the Medicare Secondary Payer law to ensure
that employer health plans that cover working Medicare
beneficiaries are the primary payers of health care benefits     
for those workers.

     Vladeck stressed, however, that "national health care costs
rising at double the rate of general inflation are a national
problem that can be addressed only by national action.

     "President Clinton's Health Security Act will achieve
moderation of health care costs through a coordinated national
strategy involving government, insurers, providers, employers and
consumers generally.
 
     "The Health Security Act offers the best hope of reducing the
growth of health care costs to an acceptable level," Vladeck said.