What do you think of raising the age of Medicare eligibility? IMO, because lifespans have gone up since implementation, the age should go up, like it is with SS. But linking it to debt ceiling talks is a mistake.
Lots of jobs can not be done safely in old age. A steelworker walking across beams at 72 is scary. Many construction jobs are physically very demanding.
Many factory jobs are hard too. Do you want to work in a foundry at 72? Can you do the job?
We do not all work in an office.
Ever watch the Bering Sea fisherman on TV. You do not see old men doing those jobs. Ever watch "Dirty Jobs’. Lots of those jobs can not be done in old age.
What does this accomplish? The folks that would become too young for Medicare have to get health insurance from somewhere. If it’s from their employer then the rates on those plans have to go up (65+ patients are much more costly to insure than younger people), and all of the other employees foot the bill that way. If they go uninsured then the effects are even worse.
How does raising the eligibility age of Medicare decrease the costs of health-care in America?
It makes sense on the surface but less when you dive into the numbers.
Life expectancies have gone up more for upper income people than lower income people.
Basically, if you’re a janitor or a steelworker or whatever, your life expectancy has increased maybe a year or two over the last few decades. If you’re some type of office worker, your life expectancy has gone up much more.
So, the statistics are skewed to reflect the increase in life expectancy in the upper half of the income distribution. So, we would be making Medicare harder to get for precisely the people who aren’t living much longer and have the worst chances of affording an alternative.
It’s the same reason I have misgivings about raising the age on SS. It inadvertently (I sure hope it was inadvertent, at least) targets the income groups who could use it the most and are already living shorter lives than people with a bit more money.
The main issue is that, except for Medicare, health insurance in the US is tied to employment. If someone their early 60s is laid off, it would be nearly impossible for them to find a job and they won’t be eligible for Medicare for several years. Getting private insurance is going to very expensive and difficult if not impossible. Private insurance for many unemployed 60+ year olds is going to be out of the question.
If the age for Medicare eligibility is raised, you will see significant numbers of people between the ages of 60 and 70 unemployed and without health insurance.
This. The reason there’s Medicare in the first place is because older Americans lost their health insurance once they retired.
Right now my hometown newspaper is in a court battle over acontract that promised health insurance to employees who took early retirement. The employees are too young for Medicare, but most of them can’t get insurance on their own because of pre-existing conditions.
If you want to reform Medicare, you have to reform health insurance in general.