Medicare

a HealthCare government-assistance program

different from Medicaid

http://www.carepathways.com/nhg-popdiff.cfm - It serves people over 65 primarily, whatever their income; and serves younger disabled people and dialysis patients.

Medigap (also called Medicare supplement insurance or Medicare supplemental insurance) refers to various private health insurance plans sold to supplement Medicare in the United States. Medigap insurance provides coverage for many of the co-pays and some of the co-insurance related to Medicare-covered hospital, skilled nursing facility, home health care, ambulance, durable medical equipment, and doctor charges. Medigap's name is derived from the notion that it exists to cover the difference or "gap" between the expenses reimbursed to providers by Medicare Parts A and B for services and the total amount allowed to be charged for those services by the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medigap

should that eligibility Retirement Age be increased?

Unfunded liabilities:

• Hospital Insurance (Part A) Trust Fund Deficit:: Unfunded obligation over 75 years is about $1.4 trillion. Projected depletion of Part A Trust Fund by 2028 or soon thereafter.
• Broader Medicare Program (Including Parts B, D financed by general revenues/premiums): The present value of total net Medicare obligations minus dedicated revenues over 75 years is estimated to be much larger, roughly $50 trillion or more on a unified accounting basis.
  • Part B is outpatient
  • Part D is rx drugs
  • Part C is Medicare Advantage which replaces A and B.