A Modest Medicare Proposal (As Suggested by a Reader)
October 5, 2011 at 9:32 pm Judith Stein Leave a comment
Instead of raising the age of eligibility for Medicare, why don’t we just use Part D as a model and create a new Eligibility Donut Hole?
People ages 65 – 69 can keep their eligibility. But, between ages 70 and 85: Into the new Donut Hole. Eligibility for Medicare would end during this time – after all it’s these older people that start getting sick, so it’s the perfect time to stop paying for their health care. The new Donut Hole would save the government a ton of money!
Those who do make it through the Eligibility Donut Hole without Medicare, would once again become eligible at age 86. At that point most people only need “comfort measures” and their conditions usually won’t improve, so Medicare wouldn’t pay for their care anyway!
If the goal is to save money, a new Medicare Eligibiity Donut Hole is the way to go.
Entry filed under: Access to Health Care, Deficit Reduction, Fiscal Responsibility, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Improvement, Medicare, Medicare Reform, Reform. Tags: Deficit; Medicare, Health Care Reform, Medicare.
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