Retiree health care costs: a workable plan

Thirty-three million retired Americans have taken for granted the warm security that health care would be provided throughout their retirement--by Medicare, by their employers, certainly by someone, because it must be an inalienable right. As the financial aspects of retiree health care are examined, however, it is important to keep in mind who will pay for it and how much we are willing to spend. This raises three important questions: Are we ready to spend that much? Is that sum enough to produce the system we want? Will we get our money's worth or just start another round of health care inflation? This article suggests two programs, one for addressing this staggering problem and another to deal with the financing of retiree health care.