Will new health-care legislation strengthen Medicare?

Prolonging Medicare

This week, President Obama said that the Medicare program is set to remain solvent for more than a decade longer than previously forecast, spelling good news for the older generations in the US. On top of that he said that this year's overhaul of the US health-care system will preserve Medicare for "generations to come".

Speaking during his weekly address on the radio and Internet, President Obama said that "the steps we took this year to reform the health-care system have put Medicare on a sounder financial footing."

"Reform has actually added at least a dozen years to the solvency of Medicare, the single longest extension in history."

Next Generation Health-care Summit

For years, there has been a concern that as the ‘baby boom' generation gets ready to retire, the Medicare system could collapse under the increased demand. However, a new report indicates that the system will now have enough money for another two decades.

President Obama cited that this was down to part of the new health-care legislation, such as financial aid for senior citizens to afford prescription drugs, new authority for the government to review and reject "unreasonable rate increases" and free preventative care.

"As reform ramps up in the coming years, we expect seniors to save an average of $200 per year in premiums and more than $200 each year in out-of-pocket costs, too," the President said, as he also added he'd be cutting down on wasteful spending.

The change in health-care culture will be one of the topics being discussed at the Next Generation Health-care Summit at The Four Seasons Hotel in Miami on the 15-17 November 2010.

Industry leaders attending to discuss the seismic shift in US health-care this year include Daniel Newman of Boston Medical Centre, Ken Bobis - Mayo Clinic, Tom Langston - SSM Health Care, Cathy Bruno - Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems and Fernando Martinex of Broward Health.

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