Experts note that covering the cost of health care and retirement
benefits for this longer-living population could eventually bankrupt
the system, notes Cauchon in his October 24th article published in the
nationally-distributed newspaper.
He points out that individuals are working five years less and living
an average of twelve years longer than they did in the 1950s, creating
a huge hole in the safety nets known as Social Security and
Medicare. As life spans increase even further, most American’s
will be taking more out of the two programs then they’ve put in.
Costly medical breakthroughs also pose a problem, notes the
author.
Though it would seem that healthier living and disease
prevention techniques would reduce costs, truth is that costs increase
with the arrival of such things as cancer vaccines, heart assistance
devices, and breakthrough drugs for controlling Alzheimer’s
Disease. As more and more Americans take advantage of these
medical miracles, costs rise at an exorbitant rate.
Dana Goldman, director of health economics at Rand Corporation, an
independent research firm, notes that Congress may be forced to make
difficult decisions on how and when to use such medical innovations,
playing a sort of life-or-death game.
Cauchon continues to cite concerns about the current structure of
Medicare and the fact that it cannot survive much longer operating the
way it does. He quotes doctors who recognize that the system as
it now stands is spread too thin because it has to cover everything,
including new costly treatments that have been approved for use by the
general public.
Solving this imbalance is, of course, another problem, notes
Cauchon. Paying for the increasing costs of medical care for a
growing senior population puts huge tax burdens on a shrinking
workforce, creating still more serious problems for the U.S. economy.
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