A healthy difference

摘要

Medicare, the health programme for those aged 65 and over, is a political tinder box. It is popular, its advocates are powerful and its costs are unaffordable. In 2011 the government spent $549 billion paying for 49m beneficiaries' check-ups, surgeries and drugs. As the number of elderly and the costs of services rise, spending will, too. The question, for politicians, is how to make Medicare sustainable and still win elections. Reforming the scheme was always a hot topic in the presidential campaign. With Paul Ryan as Mitt Rom-ney's running mate, it may well become the single most controversial issue.