…a great idea, or an expansion of a program that has gone beyond it’s effectiveness?

Well, by the response of those Boomers chanting “keep your hands off my Medicare” it would seem the answer is clear.

I wrote the White House & a number of Senators around 2 months ago, recommending that an expansion of Medicare be the alternative to a “public option” – i.e. why reinvent the wheel; just fix the wheel you have (Medicare does need some overhauling to keep it solvent and make it far more efficient) and use it, I opined.

Although my thinking was to use it for all age groups, to start by offering it to most of we AARP types makes more sense.  If that works, it can be further expanded from there.

Given that a whopping 12% of Boomers 55-64 (4.3M) are uninsured according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study, coupled with a huge number 55 & up being forced to retire early and as a result losing the healthcare coverage that goes with their job, we represent a large portion of the population in need of coverage, at a time in our lives when such coverage is essential.

Expanding Medicare is the most palatable way to do this, with far less resistance to it than any other “public” option.  And certainly those citizens who are oh so happy with their Medicare coverage but don’t want the uninsured to have the same security if that means everyone must give a little for more to get, this may calm their fears.

And the time-frame prior to any healthcare reform legislation kicking in will give the Feds the time to clean up Medicare prior to expanding it.

My fellow Boomers, many of our generational colleagues need relief, now.  It is up to all of us to ensure they get it.

Expanding Medicare is the most efficacious way to do just that.