Quality, Affordable Health Care for All Americans - Medicare Reform Free Essay Example, 3250 words

The cost to keep Medicare running will increase by 5.9 per cent in 2003 and then 6.8 per cent annually over the next ten years. Considering Medicare in the broader picture of the federal budget, the CBO sees Medicare costs increasing from 2.5 per cent of the 2002 GDP to 9.2 per cent of the GDP in 2075. Medicare has other problems besides the shrinking worker to beneficiary ratio. Not only will there be more people who are 65 and older in the decades to come, but the number of those people aged 85 and older, is slated to increase as well. Today 4.3 million people fall into the "oldest-old" category, but the number is expected to increase to more than 8.5 million by 2030 (Robinson). These "oldest-old" will likely require more expensive, long-term health care services and such coverage may increase Medicare's expenses. Also, as medical advances tend to drive up health care costs, Medicare expenditures can reasonably be expected to increase as more recipients receive such new treatments . The CBO's Medicare projections are based entirely on the assumption that the Medicare program will remain as it is in its current form. We will write a custom essay sample on Quality, Affordable Health Care for All Americans - Medicare Reform or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page President Obama has said he does not want to finance expanded health coverage with more deficit spending. Rather, he says, Congress must find ways to offset the costs, so they do not add to the deficit over the next decade (Pear, 2009). The role of Medicare in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is very important.