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Baby Boomers and the Medicare gap
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As unemployment continues to rise -- it reached 9.4 percent in May -- so do the numbers of the uninsured.
There is hope that the administration of President Barack Obama and Congress will find a fix to the nation's health care system, one that is at once expensive and for many unattainable.
But in the meantime, there is a growing group that is particularly vulnerable -- Baby Boomers aged 50 to 64.
Those who are jobless and without health benefits are caught in a limbo because they are not quite old enough yet to qualify for Medicare. The need is there, but the age isn't.
A review of health insurance coverage by Families USA, a health care advocacy group, shows that Americans aged 45 to 64 account for 21.1 percent of the 86.7 million Americans who were uninsured at some point between 2007-2008. See related story here.
The worry is that as the health care needs become more pronounced because of age, these Baby Boomers who can't afford private health insurance will fall through the cracks of health care, putting them at greater risk for more serious and possibly even fatal health issues.
One possible solution is giving them access to Medicare, which provides government-backed health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and older through a single-payer system.
U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care, last month introduced a bill to make it possible for those 55 to 64 to buy into Medicare and receive a 75 percent government subsidy, through a federal tax credit, to make the premiums for Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (outpatient medical services) more affordable.
Said Rockefeller: “People between ages 55 and 65 are the fastest growing group of uninsured Americans. These individuals often have a difficult time buying health insurance on their own because they tend to have more chronic health problems that can result in either the denial of coverage, limited coverage, or very expensive policies."
Republicans are concerned that the coming draw on Medicare -- even without advancing it now for Baby Boomers -- could break the bank.
U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said:
“The federal government has unfunded obligations of nearly $38 trillion in Medicare benefits, more than half of the nearly $69 trillion long-term unfunded obligation that we face in the entitlement arena. This crisis is getting closer and closer, and trying to kick the can down the road will not make it go away; we need to take meaningful action now."
See related story here.
The Rockefeller bill would serve as the stop-gap until a more comprehensive package of health care reform is passed by the Congress and signed by the president, if indeed that occurs.
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