Why Now Is The Best Time To Drop The Medicare Age To 50

As an answer to this day’s deep recession, Joe Biden proposed to lower the Medicare age to 60 years old. However, 50 may even be better. The reason why dropping the Medicare age now is a great idea is because older workers are being immobilized in the economy way before they may have initially planned. Now, they are losing their benefits, such as health care, together with their jobs. Yet, it’s not only older Americans who would be aided by a lower Medicare age. Drawing in more people serves Medicare itself, in two ways.

First, if the near-elderly aren’t insured, they’ll spend more once they finally join Medicare at 65 years old. Those over 50 who don’t have health insurance, particularly those with cardiovascular disease or diabetes, have more critical health issues and use more health assistance than Medicare beneficiaries insured before coming in. Since chronic diseases are widespread and insurance coverage is often costly for older uninsured people, the Medicare system is more expensive per citizen than it would be if folks were steadily insured before turning 65.

Second, younger folks have more inexpensive health care costs than older ones. Those aged 50-64 are younger than Medicare beneficiaries and older than the ones in the common employer plan. Having younger people insured saves both employers and Medicare money.

Lowering The Age Isn’t A Radical Move

We aren’t expecting radical progress from Joe Biden, and reducing the Medicare age to 60 isn’t a radical move at all. Plenty of other proposals were already available to do so even before the coronavirus recession caused the urgent demand. In 2019, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D. Michigan) presented the “Medicare at 55 Act” proposal, which provides all adults within the ages of 55 and 64 a choice to get into Medicare, which has broad coverage.

Dropping the Medicare age is also widespread and bipartisan, making it more of a non-radical move. It’s like increasing the minimum wage. Amongst voters, Republicans and Democrats favor the notion of going this route. Overall, polls stated that 77% of Americans approve of lowering the minimum age—not to mention 69% of Republicans.

COVID-19 Response Should Be Elderly-friendly

While Congress discusses COVID-19 cash and bailouts for businesses and employees on the frontlines, older people have been sidelined. Seniors and older working citizens should be the priority in Phase 4 of the COVID 19 policy-response once Congress returns in late April or sooner.

It is an astute fiscal move to compensate the older workforce partially. These people are the ones retiring early with not enough retirement savings and will require Social Security at much younger ages—making them lose essential lifetime benefits from inept health care coverage. Plus, it’s also humane.

If nothing is done, millions of middle-class workers will be broke or near-broke once they enter retirement in the next ten years due to government policies made and left undone. The first steps toward securing old-age poverty and suffering are lowering Medicare age and improving Social Security benefits.