In my Feb 9th blog I talked about the Medicare disaster that is about a decade off. I offered a number of imaginative suggestions.

The main point of this blog is that the Medicare prescription drug bill that just passed is designed to deal with this problem. The bill includes an experimental provision that takes effect in 2010 to have private insurers compete for Medicare services.

This bill, while unimaginative, is nevertheless good policy. It passed because many in Washington know that the time for any particular solution only comes along once and this is the once for Medicare reform and prescription drug coverage. AARP saw the light at the last minute.

The previous blog covered AARP.