Will There Be Affordable Health Insurance to Fill In the Gap?
May 2009
The latest news from Washington about Medicare isn't good. In fact, it's downright bad. According to Medicare trustees, the program will run out of money in just 8 years. And, as measures are proposed to save the health care giant, relying on
supplemental insurance might become more and more common.
Finding affordable health insurance has been an issue for many, many Americans, leading to 47 million uninsured citizens currently struggling with health care costs. Even more, another 45 million Americans today rely on Medicare, and as millions of baby boomers head into their golden years, that number is on its way up.
Factoring everything from Medicare fraud to the current economic slump, the
LA Times reports that the upcoming insolvency of America's government-run health care giant will mean cutting more corners, including, perhaps, minimizing benefits even more, and extending the age for qualification to 70.
As everyone knows, Medicare doesn't cover it all even now, so with future cuts on the table, it stands to reason that supplemental insurance might go from being a luxury today, to a necessity tomorrow.
Supplemental insurance covers those things that Medicare doesn't, including medications, treatments, and hospital stays. For those who feel that Medicare doesn't offer them the peace of mind they need, purchasing this type of insurance has often been their means of filling in the Medicare gap.
Of course, with more people relying on supplemental insurance it may seem that finding affordable health insurance will only get more difficult. However, President Obama's administration suggests that if his healthcare agenda is passed by Congress, the resulting competition between federal insurance and the private health insurance industry will drive prices down, resulting in more
affordable health insurance options.
Facts on:
Medicare Supplemental Insurance
Did you know...
Medicare program funds will run out of money in just 8 years?
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Then again, opponents rightly argue that if Medicare isn't doing well, how will another government-run health care program do better? And, how will we afford it?
So, it's back to the budgetary blackboard for GOP lawmakers, with even more pressure at their backs to do something that will alleviate our health care troubles, and finally provide reliable and affordable health insurance to all of our citizens.
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