Fate of Medicare & the Elderly
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The elderly population in the United States is growing in number as people live longer and as the baby-boom generation reaches old age, and yet this older generation may have a more precarious existence than has been true in recent decades for that population. There has been much rightful concern about the elderly in America in an era in which the extended family no longer holds sway so that the elderly are more often completely on their own. Another concern has been related to the so-called entitlements in the federal budget--Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and welfare--and the impact a reduction, either by design or because the system is not secure, will have on the elderly. In the recent budget debate in congress, Medicare was one of the issues, with some seeing it as politically untouchable, while others considered ways to reform the system and reduce the costs. Efforts to change the system are based on the view that without change, the system will disintegrate and serve no one. Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people 65 and older and for certain disabled people. Medicare was enacted in 1965 as part of Title 18 of the Social Security Act. Medicare is operated by the Health Care Financing Administration, a federal agency, and local Social Security Administration offices across the country take applications for Medicare and provide basic eligibility information to applicants. However, it is known that most Social Security offices in truth know
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of money is barely enough to support two people for three years at the current standard of living, and it would generate an annual income of only $7,000 if it were invested in Treasury bonds today. In terms of the entire population, only those in the 90th percentile have sufficient assets to retire. Richman says one reason for the trend is that government programs such as Social Security and Medicare actually discourage saving and make people more dependent on the programs. Clearly the fact that these programs may be failing constitutes a major concern for those relying so heavily upon them (Richman 48).
Concerns about the Social Security system have been growing in recent years with the perception that the system may be failing so that when the currently younger generations get older, the system will not have money for their old age but will be bankrupt. The danger is evident first in the size of the entitlement system:
Entitlement payments on Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare now exceed all other domestic spending. Entitlements are growing faster than any other part of the federal government budget. . . Social Security payments are growing in real terms at about 6 percent a year, but Medicare and Medicaid are grow
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Approximate Word count = 1695
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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