49 Years of Medicare: A Healthier Outlook?

(Undated) -- Medicare turned 49 this week, but questions linger about how many more birthdays the program will be able to celebrate. The influx of baby boomers reaching retirement age and increasing medical costs have lawmakers looking for options to prevent the program from going bankrupt. This year, Illinois began the Medicare-Medicaid Alignment Initiative for people dualy eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. Other options being discussed to reform Medicare include raising the age of eligibility from 65 to 67. Nan Anderson of Evanston works to educate and promote the program in Illinois and says she’s concerned about its future. The 2014 Medicare and Social Security Trustees report released this week shows the growth of health-care costs has slowed, in part through health-care reform, to improve the financial picture for Medicare. It says the program’s hospital trust fund will pay full benefits until 2030, four years later than last year’s report.