Delaying Medicare eligibility is bad for health.

[ipaint]

"This is not guesswork on our part; there’s clear evidence in the literature. In several papers, Michael McWilliams and colleagues found that utilization, spending, and outcomes for age-eligible Medicare beneficiaries differed for those who had been uninsured prior to turning 65 vs. those who had been insured. Their work was based on survey data, sometimes merged with Medicare claims. This is a relatively strong analytic approach since it exploits a discontinuity in coverage that potentially applies to nearly all individuals: the vast majority of the population enrolls in Medicare at age 65.

The authors found that, relative to those with insurance before age 65, those without insurance prior to Medicare eligibility spent much more money on health care after they became Medicare eligible. In other words, people wait to get care until their Medicare kicks in. This is bad both for health and for the federal government’s bottom line.

Delaying Medicare even longer would likely make this worse. People would forego care longer, health would suffer, and Medicare would pay for the consequences later."

http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/delaying-medicare-eligibility-is-bad-for-health/


So a rise in the age of eligibility for medicare would increase suffering and raise costs. How does this help anything?

Why propose something this stupid.

[rurallib]

1. My thought was that Obama should have proposed eligibility at 55

money would be coming in in premiums that would be less likely to be paid out. Plus, potential serious illnesses might be staunched.
And the loss of revenue could be the insurance companies pain.

Heck, let's move it to 45.

[ipaint]

3. I agree.

You can't claim historic reform of health care and then declare medicare a budget buster. Unless of course there are no price controls on the for profit ins. vultures holding all the cards and our wallets.

It's so obviously a scam I am amazed some still defend it and the President.

[dkf]

2. This is what happens when you don't address health care costs first.

Lame.