Green Retirement Blog

The trustees for Social Security and Medicare released their annual report, and the news was pessimistic. The Social Security trust fund will start paying out more, than it receives in the year 2017, and will run out of funds entirely in the year 2041. Medicare is in even worse shape. Politicians, and presidential candidates either avoid the subject, or present murky proposals and promises.

The main problem facing Social Security and Medicare is demographic. The Baby Boom generation, a large percentage of the population, is starting to retire. They will soon stop contributing, to Social Security and Medicare, and begin receiving benefits. Rising health care costs, longer life expectancies, less and less individuals contributing, all will unavoidably drain the system. The pressure will be on to raise taxes, and reduce benefits, to make up the difference.

Fixing Social Security

If the problem is demographic, could the solution to the Social Security and Medicare crisis, be addressed demographically? Yes. It is a simple numbers equation, to support the Baby Boomers and generations beyond, we need more workers paying into the system. How many workers? Millions. Where are we going to find millions of new workers contributing to Social Security and Medicare? They’re already here - the 12 million illegal and undocumented workers, who are living and working, right now in the United States. Make them citizens.

Fixing Health Care

Our health care system is a complete mess and failure. The for profit health care industry, excludes 48 million Americans, and still can’t function properly. It is way past time for the United States, to join the rest of the industrial world, and provide it’s citizens with universal health care. The presidential candidates proposals do not go far enough in addressing the problems in health-care. Their motives appear to be the protection of health care industry profits, while ignoring the issue, of rising health care costs.

Competition has failed to keep costs low. The health care insurance industry simply passes the increased costs onto it’s consumers. Profit causes the health care insurance industry to exclude the sick, poor, and elderly. By nature, the health care insurance industry is not accountable to it’s consumers, only to it’s shareholders. Only government will insure everyone, and only government, has the power to cap price increases. Also, government, at least in theory, is accountable to it’s citizens. Politicians will be held accountable for poor service and rising costs.

Lacking Leadership

The situation facing Social Security is dramatic, the current proposals by our politicians and presidential contenders, are half measures that will not solve the crisis. Dramatic solutions, such as National Health Care and citizenship for undocumented workers, will be required to save Social Security and Medicare. Unfortunately, the country is lacking the bold leadership necessary, and so I remain as pessimistic as the trustees.

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