Medicare to save $200B by 2016

Medicare will save $200 billion through 2016--largely attributed to healthcare reform, according to a new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services actuary report. Medicare beneficiaries also will save $208 billion through 2020, USA Today reported. Contrary to opponents of the healthcare law and fears that reform would raise taxpayers costs, the report suggests Americans are seeing savings. Thirty-two and a half million people used preventive services last year with no costs to themselves, senior citizens saved $3.2 billion for prescription drugs in 2010 and 2011, and the government recovered $4.1 billion in 2011 in anti-fraud efforts, according to USA Today.

"We have achieved significant tangible savings that have been passed on to beneficiaries," Jonathan Blum, director of the Center for Medicare, said. "There's a tremendous opportunity for even greater savings." Article