Vice President Joe Biden chairs a task force called A Strong Middle Class that is targeted at raising the living standards of middle-class, working families in America. One of their initiatives is more stable and secure health care for seniors.

The middle class task force recently held a health care reform discussion in Alexandria, VA with the goals of lowering costs, cutting waste, creating stability, and improving quality for seniors. Sounds pretty promising, right?

It couldn’t come at a better time, either, as seniors face rising health care cost increases on a fixed income. And there’s another group that is also profoundly affected by the increase — early retirees (aged 50-64). They are all too familiar with the rising costs of health care and stand to benefit from this reform:

Americans aged 50-64 are often the most at vulnerable and at risk in the current health care system. Too young for Medicare, they experience sky high insurance premiums and costs because of their age. Premiums for 50-64 year olds buying coverage on the open market were three times that of their peers who were lucky enough to have employer coverage. And that’s for people who aren’t automatically excluded because of a pre-existing condition.

Health care reform will lower costs for 50-64-year-old Americans by providing assistance to employer health plans to encourage them to cover recent retirees and by giving individuals access to an insurance exchange where participants will be able to compare prices of health plans ” including a public plan – and decide which option is right for them. Individuals will be eligible for help paying for insurance in the exchange based on their income. And in order to market a plan in the Exchange, insurance companies will have to comply with its rules: no denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions; no discrimination based on age; and fair prices, for good benefits.

While no one can predict what will and won’t work, I think it’s an important step for the government to look at those affected most by increasing costs, and make the effort to provide some stability in the system as Americans age.

–Elizabeth Thielke

What are your thoughts?