kennyboy listens to this:
Still, we must do more. The Trust Fund is projected to go broke now by 2015, and the new report I am issuing shows why. Not only will the senior population nearly double over the next 25 years, but already today, in 40 of our 50 states, one in ten Medicare beneficiaries is 85 years of age or older. This is the fastest-growing group of seniors. And they require the greatest amount of care. And they will spend -- consider this -- almost a quarter of their lives on Medicare. The report also shows that in every state in America, there are more women on Medicare than men; on average 57 percent women, 43 percent men.
This report is the most compelling evidence to date that we must strengthen and modernize Medicare for the long run, including adding a voluntary prescription drug benefit. With our economy strong, our budget balanced, our people confident, now is the time to deal with this important issue. The budget I propose does just that while maintaining our surplus and paying down our debt over the next 13 years to make us debt free for the first time since 1835. It uses the savings from debt reduction to lengthen the life of Social Security and Medicare. It uses competition and the best private sector practices to control costs and improve quality in Medicare.
And it provides funds to give every older American, at long last, a choice of affordable coverage for prescription drugs. These drugs are an indispensable part of modern medicine. No one creating a Medicare program today would think of creating a program without prescription drug coverage. Yet more than three in five Medicare recipients now lack dependable drug coverage which can lengthen and enrich their lives. It is even worse for seniors in rural areas, who have little or no option to purchase private prescription drug coverage. And as today's report shows, nearly a quarter of our nation's elderly live in rural areas.
ssa.gov |
