On the recordJune 23, 2011
You point out the line in the sand drawn for 55 and over and 55 and under and that there is a different treatment. People would try to suggest, if you're 65, say, and you're qualifying for Medicare, if you go forward, the folks below 55 will never join the system, and that will cause fluctuations in the crowd that's 65 and over today. As that happens, as they grow older and as the life expectancy keeps strengthening and going north, not south, there is no replenishing of the younger eligible Medicare community. As you climb the age chart, the correlation with health care and your need for services rises. So the younger element within the Medicare eligible community was, I think, providing stability in the fund. I think it disrupts even the actuarial outcome of that universe as you no longer allow the entry of new populations with time.
