Congress began trying to provide old-age insurancefor something close to 100% of the population as early as 1939, before the first Social Security benefits were paid.
Then there is Medifund, a safety-net program for the bottom 10 percent of income earners, and Eldershield, a private insurance program for long-term care for those with old age-related disabilities.
He also recommends that single people, who may not have family who could care for them in oldage, to seriously consider long-term care insurance as well.
The biggest problems: It is voluntary, and it attempts to combine a new benefit for working people with disabilities with a true insurance program for those looking to hedge against the risk of long-term care in oldage.
An idea often floated in Congress to reduce spending on Medicare by raising the eligibility agefor the federal health insurance program for the elderly from 65 to 70 years old would jack up costs per person for those seniors left in the program by 12 percent, if implemented.