Lucia

de Vernai

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May 13, 2009

Medicare is Screwed, But We Don’t Have to Screw Ourselves

One of Barack Obama’s biggest presidential campaign selling points was extending health insurance to 50 million uninsured Americans. What was thought to be mostly a partisan battle, with the expanding role of the government and increased taxation up for debate, is now no longer up for discussion.

The fiscal conditions of Medicare and Social Security are starting to make even the most ardent supporters of “a change we can believe in” wonder if it will be a change for the better. With 5.7 million payroll jobs lost since December 2007, and thus longer contributing to either program, and the highest unemployment in 25 years, Medicare, which pays for its beneficiaries’ hospital care, is going to run out of money in 10 years.

As the upcoming census will surely show, the 78 million Baby Boomers are not getting any younger or any healthier, and unscientific research shows that all things being equal, we are pretty much screwed. As we try to remind ourselves that all economic downturns must eventually end, and soon enough things will be better, let’s not forget that there is always another disaster waiting over the horizon.

If we’re not bailing out the banks that are taking our homes, we’ll be trying to save crumbling social infrastructure, while scraping together money to pay for our monthly prescriptions.

If you were naïve enough to believe that Obama can save us from decades of imbalanced budget at the federal level and sky-high costs of private health care, it’s time to see what the Obama team is seeing: A faltering economy and senators considering taxing soda to find money for health care.

And it seems that constituents couldn’t care less.

Before anyone stomps off pouting to change their voter registration because the government failed in making reforms again, here is a desperate measure for these desperate times: Why don’t those who hate giving the government our hard-earned money and are sick of it sticking its incompetent tentacles into our lives take matters into their own hands?

The billions of dollars the government spends on preventable illnesses could be saved if we stopped shoveling saturated fat into our mouths, went to see a doctor regularly before the stroke and stopped pretending that nicotine-caused emphysema is a “personal choice.” If tax money is paying for your air tank or bypass surgery (and that’s what Medicare dollars do), then no longer does the government just have an obligation to you, you have an obligation to your fellow taxpayers too.

Not all illnesses are preventable and we should not lose our empathy for those who suffer. At the same time, this cost-benefit analysis is crucial to finding solutions to America’s health crises.

Personal responsibility is no fun, and it’s not going to change the current needs of Medicare patients. But if we expect “the government” to do something about it, and Obama to live up to his campaign promises, let’s remember that we the people ultimately decide the future of Medicare spending.

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