Will baby boomers get Medicare?

As the baby boomer generation gets closer to the age where they can qualify for the Medicare program, it looks like there will not be enough life support to keep the program running.

According to an Associate Press GfK poll, the study found that 43% of baby boomers can't expect to depend on Medicare for the remainder of their lives, while 20% actually think Medicare is entirely satisfactory. The remaining 37% have mixed feelings about Medicare in their futures.

Congress has already discussed this notion of changing the retirement age as well as what age one should apply for Social Security, which like Medicare, is dwindling. The age to qualify for Medicare was fixed at 65 and now the Federal Government is thinking about raising that to 67 years of age.

Part of the reasoning and logic the Government is wanting to do this is because when this last portion of the baby boomer generation reaches the age of 65 which will be over the next two decades, Medicare at that point will be providing coverage to some 80 million people. However, only 3/5 of every worker will actually be paying taxes into the Medicare program at that point.

You would have thought by now that the Federal Government would have started to take close note on all of this a long time ago. Obviously, programs like Medicare and Social Security would not be around forever.

So now, Congress is thinking about phasing the Medicare program out, switching to supporting a new reform plan of helping retired people receive a fixed payment or even a voucher program to assist them in buying a medical insurance plan of their choice.

I thought the new Health Care Law required everyone to have a health insurance plan anyway? If that is the case, then what is the point of the voucher program?

The unfortunate scenario is that by the time I get to the age of 67, granted that the world is still around, I will not be able to qualify for Medicare, as it will be entirely whipped out by that time.