Mitt Romney, one of the Republican candidates who hopes to become the Republican nominee for the 2012 Presidential election, is turning 65. He is now eligible to sign up for Medicare, but he is choosing not to do so at this time. That isn’t the choice most Americans would make.
Medicare is a public form of health insurance. In order to be come eligible for Medicare, you have to be an American citizen, and you have to turn 65 years of age. You will automatically receive your Medicare card in the mail three months before your 65th birthday. Ideally, you should sign up as soon as you become eligible. This is the easiest time to do it. If you wait, you might end up with some difficulties whenever you do decide to try and sign up.
Mitt Romney is about to turn 65 years of age. The majority of Americans who reach this landmark birthday will immediately choose to sign up for Medicare. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is doing the opposite. He has decided that he will not sign up for Medicare.
I’m not sure if this means he will never sign up for it, or if he is choosing to wait a while before he signs up.
Why isn’t he signing up for Medicare? This is something that can be speculated about. Perhaps he currently has health insurance that he is happy with, and feels that the policy he has is better for him and his family than Medicare would be. Mitt Romney used to work for Bain Capital. The company does offer a group retiree plan.
Another possibility is that Mitt Romney is trying to make a statement by choosing not to sign up for Medicare. He has proposed changes to Medicare that would gradually raise the official age of retirement, in order to reflect increases in longevity. His changes would also cause wealthier seniors to receive less support from Medicare than what seniors who have less income would get from the program.
Mitt Romney might be trying to say that he thinks that 65 is too young an age for people become eligible for Medicare. He could also be making a political point that implies that wealthy people, (like Mitt Romney) should pay more for their Medicare benefits than everyone else. Of course, all of this is mere speculation.
It is important to point out facts. Like, for example, it is a fact that people who chose to delay their enrollment in Medicare will face a financial penalty for doing so when they try and enroll later on. It is called a “late enrollment” penalty, and the reason why a person decided to enroll late really doesn’t matter. Theoretically, it is possible that by choosing not to sign up for Medicare right now, Mitt Romney might have to pay that penalty if he changes his mind and decides to enroll later on.
Image by Martin Pettitt on Flickr