Phil Ebersole is a former reporter in Rochester, NY. This posting looks at the changing the eligibility age of Medicare from 65 to 67 from a different slant, and with links to other informative sources on that topic.
Journalists with inside information on the Obama administration are floating the idea of raising the age of Medicare eligibility from age 65 to age 67. They say this would be a small price to pay in return for a grand bargain with Republicans in Congress to raise taxes on incomes above $250,000 from 35 percent to 37 percent.
This is a terrible idea, but that’s not a reason why President Obama won’t propose it, or that it won’t go through.
As these charts show, people—especially poor people— do postpone needed medical treatment because they can’t afford it.
I know of people myself, many of them laid off from their jobs in middle age, who are postponing medical treatment until they reach age 65 and become eligible for Medicare. The life expectancy of people at age 65 is about 15 or 20 years. Cutting two years out of their coverage would…
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