Biden Plan to Lower Medicare Eligibility Age to 60 Faces Hostility From Hospitals

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's proposal to lower the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 60 has met resistance from hospitals, reports Kaiser Health News . The hospitals are afraid that adding millions of people to Medicare will lead to billions of dollars in lost revenue. Medicare reimbursement rates for patients admitted to hospitals average half of what commercial or employer-sponsored insurance plans pay. Biden said the plan will help those who retire early and those who are unemployed or cannot find jobs with health benefits. "It reflects the reality that, even after the current crisis ends, older Americans are likely to find it difficult to secure jobs," he explained in April. Likely obstacles to Biden's plan are Republican congressmen, who will cite the nation's $3 trillion budget deficit and the dim outlook for the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. Biden also wants Congress to pass a government-run health plan that people could buy into instead of purchasing coverage from insurers on their own or via Affordable Care Act marketplaces.