Expanded Medicare won't provide seamless coverage
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR,
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – Think Medicare is a great deal? Better ask grandma first. Senate Democrats are talking about allowing aging baby boomers into the program, but it's far from free.
Seniors now on Medicare pay an average of $4,400 a year of their own money for supplemental insurance, premiums, prescription copays, and deductibles for inpatient care and doctor visits.
That's even after taxpayers pick up most of the cost of covering the elderly. Under one scenario Democrats are considering, people age 55 to 64 would have to pay full freight to join Medicare. Private insurance plans could well be a better deal for them.
"It's more complicated than just saying, 'Open Medicare up to people 55-64,'" said health economist Marilyn Moon, co-author of a 1999 proposal to expand the program. "In theory, it's not a bad idea because you're taking an existing program that works very well for an elderly population and extending it to the next group of people. But the structure of Medicare is different from private insurance."
(More here.)
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – Think Medicare is a great deal? Better ask grandma first. Senate Democrats are talking about allowing aging baby boomers into the program, but it's far from free.
Seniors now on Medicare pay an average of $4,400 a year of their own money for supplemental insurance, premiums, prescription copays, and deductibles for inpatient care and doctor visits.
That's even after taxpayers pick up most of the cost of covering the elderly. Under one scenario Democrats are considering, people age 55 to 64 would have to pay full freight to join Medicare. Private insurance plans could well be a better deal for them.
"It's more complicated than just saying, 'Open Medicare up to people 55-64,'" said health economist Marilyn Moon, co-author of a 1999 proposal to expand the program. "In theory, it's not a bad idea because you're taking an existing program that works very well for an elderly population and extending it to the next group of people. But the structure of Medicare is different from private insurance."
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home