Medicare Blimp Costs Taxpayers $600,000             
(Washington, D.C.)—Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today criticized the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for spending $600,000 on a blimp to fly at sporting events.  The blimp is part of a $30 million ad campaign to make Medicare better known to seniors.  It will tour the country in the coming weeks, appearing at football games and other events.  The blimp reads “1-800-Medicare,” a hotline the public can call with questions about benefits.

“The notion of advertising an entitlement program is strange to begin with,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “It is like advertising the air that we breathe.  That $600,000 would be better spent hunting down the $13 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse that plagues the current Medicare system.”

Medicare is governed by tens of thousands of pages of rules and regulations that dictate nearly every aspect of medical services for senior citizens, placing substantial administrative burdens on doctors and hospitals.  Some health care providers are turning down Medicare patients to avoid the costly paperwork and inflexible mandates.  Medicare administrator Tom Scully says the blimp is needed because "the average senior has no clue what the benefits are."

“A blimp and a hotline will do nothing to solve the maze of confusion surrounding the Medicare program,” Schatz continued.  “Medicare is in trouble and the last thing taxpayers need is more hot air.”  

Entitlement spending is set to skyrocket in the coming decades.  A smaller base of working taxpayers will pay the benefits for a growing number of retirees.  The Congressional Budget Office estimates that spending on Medicare will double over the next three decades, jumping from 2.3 percent to 5.4 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP).  Spending for Medicare and Social Security will account for 12 percent of GDP in 2030 and will consume more than half of all federal spending.  Experts predict that younger workers today will pay thousands more in Medicare and Social Security taxes than they will ever receive in benefits.    

“Ironically, the Medicare blimp appears at football stadiums packed with thousands of college students,” Schatz concluded.  “Instead of a targeted campaign to educate seniors about benefits, the blimp is broadcasting to younger generations what a failure the program has become.  A majority of younger Americans think Medicare will fail to provide them health insurance throughout their retirement.  No amount of propaganda will convince today’s youth that Medicare is a great program.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.