Reforming Nazi Socialist Muslim (or something) Medicare

CBO has redone its analysis, and finds that raising the Medicare age would barely reduce federal spending.

The basic reason is selection bias: many seniors get Medicare before 65 because of disability or specific medical conditions. The ones who have to wait until the headline age are, on average, relatively healthy and hence relatively cheap.

...it wasn’t really about saving money in the first place. Degrading the safety net and pushing people into more expensive private insurance weren’t bugs, they were features. 

---Krugman (Vitus emphasis)