Centenarians: Breaking the Budget

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benefit after years of paying into the system.

SOLUTIONS: One possible solution would be raising the retirement age. However, people become frail with age and become unable to work after a certain age. This age has already been determined as somewhere between 60 & 70, and rightfully so. As people age, organs begin to fail, they get weaker immune systems and are more susceptible to diseases, such as heart failure, alzheimer’s, dementia, irritable bowel syndrome, etc. That said, people do deteriorate at different rates and this depends on a variety of factors including, lifestyle, genetics, diet, exercise, field of work, and the list goes on. If rather than pre-determining a one size fits all retirement age, we were to treat retirement more like disability, then this age may naturally increase for a wide variety of people. In other words, if a person is still healthy and capable of working at age 85, they would continue to do so, which in turn means rather than drawing out money for 15 years from the social security benefits, they would’ve payed into this fund, thus helping contribute to a better functioning system.

Another solution would be to average the overall fund distribution equally amongst those receiving this benefit. By doing so, the government would be able to utilize higher income individual’s social security collections to help support those less fortunate.

Lastly, to truly fix the economic problems facing our medical system, it would be necessary to overhaul the core system itself. We should consider things like limiting the services that emergency rooms are required to provide to people without payment, fining people who come to the emergency room for non-emergencies to avoid paying office visits to a doctor, allowing the hospitals to sue the patients who knowingly come into an emergency room for minor medical needs just as patients are currently able to sue hospitals for malpractice and/or refusal of service. While reviewing and/or revamping the system, it would also be wise to limit the amount that a doctor/insurance company can inflate the price of medical services. These costs should be determined based on the actual cost of service, and medical providers should be held accountable to this service. For example, if a person takes their vehicle in for a diagnosis and the diagnosis is proven to be wrong; the person would be able to get their money back from the shop. Doctors, however, are rarely held accountable to such scenarios as a patient who is mis-diagnosed. These patients usually just return to the doctor multiple times, or go to another doctor paying for service each and every time until their affliction can be properly diagnosed/treated. One common misconception is that all of this could be fixed by making one change or another, when in actuality it would take a series of changes to our current systems to truly impact the cost of growing life expectancies.

CONCLUSION

Sentimentally, it’s wonderful that people are living longer and more and more centenarians are being born, but the impact it has on our economy is nothing short of devastating. Families enjoy passing traditions and stories and bonding through the generations as more and more people live longer. Instinctually, people have a desire to provide care for their elders and to let others enjoy their “golden years” in comfort and relaxation. This desire, however, is truly devastating to the American economy. It is not sustainable to continue things as they are while people continue to live longer & need more care for more years. As devastating as it may be, however, it also promotes change in our economy and economic design to avoid a collapse in our economy. This collapse can be avoided if the correct actions take place. Then, we can all enjoy our sentimental attachments and avoid financial ruin in this great country.