Health of Medicare requires attention

Contrary to what you may believe after hearing speeches from Sen. Hillary Clinton insisting the nation must have a mandatory health insurance system, it already has one — for older Americans. It’s called Medicare.

Most older Americans make at least some use of Medicare to pay health care costs, and some depend wholly on it. It is mandatory from the standpoint of funding; one of the withholding items on your paycheck stub is for Medicare.

Yet the program, like its cousin, Social Security, is vastly underfunded.

Medicare trustees have pointed out that the program will start paying out more than it brings in this year. By 2019, Medicare’s reserves are expected to be exhausted.

Clinton — and, for that matter, her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama — should address the impending meltdown of Medicare. Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee for president, is discussing Medicare and Social Security. It’s time for Clinton and Obama to join in.