- There is a proposal to lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60.
- A new study concludes that the change would not necessarily lower medical costs for all people in that age group.
- Some experts say the lower age would help reduce expenses and premiums for people in lower- and middle-income groups as well as increase their access to healthcare services.
One of President Biden’s election promises to lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60 is beginning to gain traction.
While most healthcare experts are still waiting for more details on how and if the proposed reduction in the minimum age will help, studies are beginning to be published on how it may impact individuals, the government, and private insurance companies.
Those who support the proposal say that expanding Medicare will improve affordable insurance access to more than 20 million people in the United States.
A letter to the president and Congress signed by 45 national advocacy groups states that the proposed change will “save lives and prevent suffering and financial hardship for families across the nation.”
People ages 60 to 65 are “the most expensive folks to insure,” said Eagan Kemp, a healthcare policy advisor for Public Citizen and an expert on Medicare and other insurance programs.
A lot of people in that age group, Kemp told Healthline, tend to put off medically necessary care until they reach 65 and can access that care more affordably through Medicare.
That’s not always a wise choice.
“It’s much easier to deal with stage 1 cancer than stage 4,” Kemp said.
Kemp is quick to point out that he and his organization are supporters of Medicare for All and see the age reduction as a “positive step” toward that goal.
“That would take the most popular program in the United States and broaden it,” he said. “We’d be serving a complex population in a cost-effective way.”
Source: healthline