Raising Medicare Age May Save U.S. More Than $100 Billion{shifts the problem}

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-06/raising-medicare-age-may-save-u-s-more-than-100-billion.html

A Republican proposal to raise the eligibility age for Medicare may save the federal government more than $100 billion while increasing health-care costs to senior citizens, states and employers.

People age 65 and older could pay an extra $2,000 for health insurance if they’re excluded from Medicare, the federal health-care program for the elderly, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Other government and private health plans would see costs rise as would-be Medicare recipients seek care elsewhere.

The proposal, which President Barack Obama in a Bloomberg interview signaled a willingness to consider in talks over a deficit-reduction deal, would fail to address Medicare’s more- pressing fiscal issues. These include the high cost of providing end-of-life care, said Paul Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions in Washington.

Raising the eligibility age is “math that works very well for reducing the federal outlay for Medicare,” Keckley said. “It doesn’t mean costs will go away. It’ll be someone else’s problem.”

[SoCalNative]

1. And what are those of us

who will be retiring at 65 or earlier now supposed to do if they DO raise the eligibility age?

[marmar]

2. Dialogue on issues in America starts from the center-right and moves further right.

I'm sick of it.

[xchrom]

3. i'm with you. nt

[rurallib]

7. the old extreme right wing is now center right

Goldwater wouldn't even be allowed in that party these days.

[GeorgeGist]

4. Who is US?

[OLDMDDEM]

5. I am a boomer

I turned 65 in September. I really resent that people say that the problem with Medicare and healthcare costs is because of the boomers. That sounds like finger pointing and I don't like it. We didn't ask to be born 60 plus years ago, but we did our best. We paid our Medicare taxes every paycheck since Medicare started. And, as we got older we began having more health issues. This happened before us (boomers) and it will happen after we are gone. People need to leave the eligibility age out of the discussion. Yes, there are problems in the system, but we do not not need to remake it. We do need to clean out the fraud and move forward. These are our earned benefits that are being discussed. Changing them could be political suicide for those who make changes unnecessarily.

[Downwinder]

6. If they are going to deny medical coverage

they should offer a humane alternative. Offer a choice of a euthanasia pill or assisted suicide for those who would prefer it. Don't have death panels, give the individual the choice.

[WinkyDink]

10. Oh, now THERE'S a fabulous "alternative"! Why waste the pills? We could all be pushed off a CLIFF.

[Downwinder]

11. I survived going off a cliff. It was painful.

[LiberalEsto]

8. Taxing the rich more would save America even more nt

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

9. "Math that works very well for reducing the federal outlay for Medicare"

"I doesn't mean costs will do away. It'll be someone else's problem"

What a fucking asshat. They're just playing "hide the cookie" with the costs of the program.

Grow a pair. Pay your fucking taxes and stop whining.

[MannyGoldstein]

12. Good! I'm sick and tired of special interest groups

like the old, the poor and the sick getting all the shit they get. Let them suffer a bit, like the rest of us.

Regards,

Third-Way Manny

[truebluegreen]

13. Want to save Medicare and lower health care costs?

Let younger, healthier people buy in.

Preferably, ALL of them.

[TexasBushwhacker]

14. Exactly - Without some kind of single payer, non profit competition

health care costs will continue to go UP UP UP! If you didn't watch "Hospitals: The Costs of Admissions" on 60 Minutes, you can watch it here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50136261n

The thing that's mind boggling is that we have FOR PROFIT health insurance companies denying coverage, but we have FOR PROFIT hospitals jacking up bills and admitted people unnecessarily. Of course at the end of the day, the health insurance companies can just pass their costs on to consumers, so they don't do all that much to control costs.

[Cleita]

15. Ezra Klein would disagree with this article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/post/chart-of-the-morning-the-cost-of-raising-medicares-eligibility-age/2011/08/23/gIQABlm8aJ_blog.html

He says it would be more costly to raise the Medicare age.

Also, a quick google showed me that those two Bloomberg reporters have been criticized as being right wing hacks on various blogs and other news outlets.