Video Republican Presidential Candidates on Medicare AARP
Video – Republican Presidential Candidates on Medicare – AARP
See also: Initially decried by its opponents (chief among them the American Medical Association) as socialized medicine, Medicare has become one of the government's most popular programs. But the program faces serious fiscal challenges. Today 3.9 employees pay taxes into Medicare for every older American who's receiving benefits; that ratio is projected to drop to 2.4 by 2030 as increasing numbers of boomers retire. Fast-rising health care costs threaten to push the program even more out of actuarial balance. With its hospital-insurance trust fund now projected to bottom out in 2024, Medicare is again at the center of the debate over the government's long-term fiscal health — and a key as the 2012 Republican primaries approach. AARP invited the six leading GOP candidates to address Medicare and three other subjects — , , and and the economy. Four of the candidates (, , and ) accepted AARP's invitation; two ( and ) declined. Watch the Medicare segments of the 20-minute candidate interviews in the video player above. Dave Price of WHO-TV, the NBC affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa, interviewed the candidates on Nov. 4.
Republican Presidential Candidates Talk With AARP About Medicare
Four hopefuls weigh in on a key 2012 campaign issue
Last year more than 47 million Americans — more than 83 percent of them aged 65 and older and the rest disabled — received a total of $516 billion in benefits under the program, which is financed by payroll . Before Medicare was enacted in 1965, only 51 percent of people 65 and older had health care coverage; today, they're the only age group with virtually universal coverage.See also: Initially decried by its opponents (chief among them the American Medical Association) as socialized medicine, Medicare has become one of the government's most popular programs. But the program faces serious fiscal challenges. Today 3.9 employees pay taxes into Medicare for every older American who's receiving benefits; that ratio is projected to drop to 2.4 by 2030 as increasing numbers of boomers retire. Fast-rising health care costs threaten to push the program even more out of actuarial balance. With its hospital-insurance trust fund now projected to bottom out in 2024, Medicare is again at the center of the debate over the government's long-term fiscal health — and a key as the 2012 Republican primaries approach. AARP invited the six leading GOP candidates to address Medicare and three other subjects — , , and and the economy. Four of the candidates (, , and ) accepted AARP's invitation; two ( and ) declined. Watch the Medicare segments of the 20-minute candidate interviews in the video player above. Dave Price of WHO-TV, the NBC affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa, interviewed the candidates on Nov. 4.