Raising Medicare Age Would Shift Costs
- By BSTQ Staff
A report released by the Kaiser Family Foundation says that raising Medicare’s eligibility age by two years would save the federal government $7.6 billion, but those costs and more would shift to others. The report assumed full implementation of the health law and an increase in Medicare eligibility to 67 in 2014.
The shift in costs included added out-of-pocket expenses for people ages 65 and 66 that year, higher retiree costs for employers and increased Medicaid costs for states. The total out-of-pocket costs for 65- and 66-year-olds would increase by $5.6 billion, while employer retiree healthcare costs would rise $4.5 billion. The increase in Medicare eligibility also would increase premiums by 3 percent for beneficiaries who stay on the program because younger beneficiaries would be removed from the risk pool. In addition, that shift also would raise prices 3 percent for all individuals who purchase coverage through the law’s health insurance exchanges.
Congress is currently considering increasing Medicare’s eligibility age as a way to decrease federal spending and extend the solvency of the program.