Federal mandatory spending caps vital for health care reform

Rising health spending creates an increasing burden on families, businesses, and government. Federal health spending--chiefly on Medicare and Medicaid--is a major contributor to a budget deficit that threatens to exceed $400 billion. In order to control that deficit, the President and the Congress must cap mandatory spending, excluding Social Security. In turn, policymakers should adopt health reforms to fit spending within the cap including enrolling more consumers in managed care plans, resolving medical liability disputes in arbitration instead of courts, and increasing assessment of research into cost-effective new technology.