Democrats strategically dropped a proposal to expand Medicare this last week in an effort to build support for the current health care overhaul. The proposed Medicare expansion intended to offer individuals ranging from 55-64 years of age the ability to buy into Medicare early. This idea was originally introduced during September health care discussions; however, no action was taken on this plan. The original idea was to offer coverage to people older than 55 years of age if they were laid off, and did not have another means to obtain affordable health insurance coverage.

Recently the White House, lawmakers, and the pharmaceutical industry established an agreement to cut Medicare drug costs by $80 billion over the next ten years. Although viewed as a “turning point” by the Obama Administration, there has been some criticism as President Obama throughout his campaign and recent term has vowed to dissociate from lobbyist influences.

However, over the years the spending on Medicaid and Medicare has grown to an exuberant amount in conjunction with a budget that already has a huge deficit. So how will such a cut in drug prices influence Medicare?

This last week, I watched the Tele-Town Hall meeting President Obama had with AARP. During this meeting President Obama again defended his claims that his health care reform would not change Medicare for the elderly. The concerns about Medicare have been hovering for quite some time now; and with the elderly living longer, and a huge influx of baby-boomers reaching the age of 65 it couldn’t be a more pivotal moment for this program.