Medicare privatization and the erosion of retirement security

This paper describes initiatives to privatize the Medicare program over the last 10 years and the implications of these initiatives for the future of retirement security. Our analysis focuses on the privatization provisions of the Medicare Modernization Act, which is largely designed to benefit the corporate health care sector without containing costs or significantly reducing the threat of rising health care costs to the economic security of current and future retirees. In fact, as designed, the Medicare Modernization Act is likely to increase the threat to retirement security in the years ahead. We conclude with a series of policy alternatives to the neoliberal agenda for the privatization of Medicare.