MAKING A BAD BILL WORSE:

Medical groups balk at Medicare 'buy-in' (John Fritze, 12/10/09, USA TODAY)

Hospital and doctor groups that have generally supported the effort to revamp the nation's health care system pushed back Wednesday against a new idea proposed by Democratic leaders to let younger Americans buy into Medicare. [...]

"Bringing more people into a system that doesn't work very well is not a good answer," said Jeffrey Korsmo, executive director of the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center. "The current Medicare program is not sustainable." [...]

Created in 1965, Medicare had 45 million beneficiaries in 2008, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, but rising health care costs have threatened the program's viability. According to the 2009 annual report by its trustees, the program is on track to run out of money in 2017.

Many details have not been announced, but the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association, pounced on a proposal to expand the seniors program because doctors receive less from Medicare than from private insurance for the same procedures.

"If more people move into Medicare we'd … bear the financial brunt of this," said Rich Umbdenstock, president and CEO of the hospital trade group.