As I’m sure everybody reading this knows, one of the proposed changes to in the health care atrocity is reforming Medicare so that people 55 and over would be able to opt into it, providing more coverage to more people on the government dole.
My knee jerk reaction is to loathe this idea (and in a way I still do, just bear with me). Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are all slated to be bankrupt by 2036 (and that is a low ball estimate). Technically, they’ll never go bankrupt, because no politician would seriously tackle the dismantling of this “beloved” weight around our countries neck. However, this got me thinking: how could I make this work in my favor?
Here me out now, I might get a little scatterbrained. If more people are able to opt into Medicare, and Medicare is a failing ponzi scheme that isn’t worth spit, then allowing people 55 and over to opt in might be a good thing. IF…and this is, admittedly, a HUGE IF…after the Medicare fountain runs dry, it isn’t replenished. This would mean some major future reformation on the Republicans end. It would mean we would need to count it out and MAKE SURE we had a Congressional majority as well as an R in the White House. In fact, if we were to achieve that, say, in 2012, we could even hurry the process along and make the bankruptcy a little less painful.
It would require the hiring of some more governmental employees (something I wouldn’t be to thrilled about) in order to keep the books right, but if we took the number of people on Medicare and the amount the average taxpayer payed towards that person, we could figure out how many people no longer had to pay for Medicare once an individual died. Lets say 5 people pay for one persons Medicare (I’m just guessing here, I picked 5 to make the math simpler). If a person died, the government could take the next 5 people at the top of the list in the 54 yr. old range, and they would no longer have to pay into the program that they would not see the benefit from. Granted, somebody like me, being 23, would probably be a little irked, but screw it. Somebody would have to get angry.
After about a decade, Medicare would simply be a memory. We could, obviously, do the same with SS and Medicaid (theoretically). The only problem, of course, would be the fact it would political suicide, realistically. And that’s where the problem lies, and why I’m still not in favor of changing the age to 55. IF what I proposed could become reality (note that is a big if) then it would be a fairly painless transition. It’s also important to note that there would have to be a cut off day, which would tick off many oldsters in the 54 yr. old category, but regardless, something needs to be done…and I’m not hearing many ideas about the reformation of Medicare on either side of the aisle, even though it is an impending big issue.
Of course this is all theoretical. I recognize that that pesky thing like reality comes around bites you in the butt, but still…something to think about.
Cross posted at www.ktracy.com and linked at www.mattersofopinion.net
