http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/ne ... om.art.htm Wow. I knew it was bad, but this is just "kick in your crotch" horrifying.
The Highlights...
'Senior care' is now 35% of the ENTIRE Federal budget. It equates to a cost of $27,000 per senior citizen. Every 'non-senior' household pays an average of $10,673 to accomplish this. For those of you doing the math that means there is ONE retiree for every TWO working households. The population of "65+" elderly has been constant at 12% for years, but is set to spike in 3 years (2011) when boomers start hitting 65. At this point the ratio will move towards ONE retiree for every ONE worker. In the next decade as much as 45% of the Federal budget could be 'senior care'.
Yikes. I have nothing against the elderly, but economically this is unacceptable. How to solve it?
1. Increase taxes?
2. Decrease entitlement payments to seniors?
3. Regulation of the medical industry to lower costs?
All the above? Personally I really think the government needs to drastically scale back these programs. To start with, only people who need help should get help. People that have saved their money and are well-to-do should not get benefits. Illegals should not get benefits. The self-employed should not get benefits. People that have not paid into the system should not get benefits. Scale the program back to their original scope (the original senior care program covered only the actual worker).
Another big issue is the out of control cost of medical care. Medical costs have spiraled to ridiculous levels, and every year insurance has gone up while covering less. Medical care is unaffordable now, and insurance is becoming unaffordable. I refuse to believe that as a country we are THAT sick. Something is artificially spiking these costs in a big way and it needs to be investigated.
