USA: The baby boomers are getting long in the tooth

The new law reforming the Medicare system (the stateorganised insurance cover for the aged and infirm introduced 40 years ago) stipulates the privatisation of certain elements of cover. Accordingly, since 2006 insureds have been able to choose between different private medical plans covering medicines only available on prescription.

This is certainly a step in the right direction because competition with private insurers can increase efficiency in the healthcare sector. However, as long as revenues do not increase, the USA will face significant challenges in terms of funding as the baby boomer generation starts to have an effect on the proportion of benefit recipients to actively employed in the years ahead.

According to estimates, the number of people receiving Medicare services will almost double between 2000 and 2030 — from 40 million to 78 million.