In addition to making draconian cuts to the Medicare Advantage program, the bill largely increases the number and cost of beneficiaries in Medicare. For example, both the House and Senate bills reduce the coverage gap, or “doughnut hole” in Part D coverage by $500 beginning in 2010. Other additions include increased benefits for dual Medicare-Medicaid eligible and eliminating cost-sharing for preventative services (beneficiaries will not have to pay for any of the cost). Such great cost reduction is certainly an enormous benefit for any senior, but puts a new strain on the need for more Medicare funds.

Additionally, the Senate bill plans to tax companies receiving prescription drug subsidies. Since 2003, companies that continued to provide their own prescription drug benefits qualified for a 28% tax-free subsidy (about $600 per year per retiree). The advantage for companies was the ability to list the subsidy as a reduction to their retiree health liability. The Senate bill will tax the subsidy, thus increasing companies’ tax liabilities and companies will be required to register the change as a loss in earnings.

The response expected from these companies will be to no long provide prescription drug benefits on their own. Thus, the cost falls back on Medicare who will see a dramatic increase in Part D beneficiaries. Increasing the number of Medicare eligibles will only add fuel to the fire: these change merely bring the day of reckoning for Medicare closer than 2016.

This disturbing information was reported by the Medicare Trust Fund, which is legally bound to disclose the status of its healthcare program for seniors. Unfortunately, despite the predictions about the end of Medicare, nothing is being done to fix the problem. Political action must be taken in order to eliminate the bias Medicare currently has for elderly people and to keep the grim reaper away.

Healthcare expenditures have exceeded revenues for years and they continue to do so. Something which augments the issue is that life expectancy has been increasing due to the technological and medical advances of our society. The longer people live, the more Medicare dollars they will consume. Also, now that the baby boomer generation that brought us bellbottoms and Woodstock is reaching the age which qualifies them for Medicare, an increasing amount of people will be given the cheap healthcare political leaders have promised them. This is bound to decrease the life expectancy of Medicare even more so within coming years. Regrettably then, healthcare is paid for by people who will not have a chance to benefit from it because of the coming doomsday of Medicare in 2017, if not earlier.