Medicare Expansion Would Be Financial Balm for an Aging U.S.
- Dental, hearing benefits may arrive as Baby Boomers grow older
- Democrats add proposal to bill modeled on Biden agenda
Joe Biden speaks to reporters after reaching a reconciliation package overnight that would expand Medicare benefits, at the U.S. Capitol, on July 14.
Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Senate Democrats’ plan to expand Medicare coverage would help a growing senior population often struggling with hefty out-of-pocket medical expenses, potentially providing ballast for the economy in coming years.
Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee agreed Tuesday on a $3.5 trillion spending level for a bill to carry most of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda into law without Republican support. The bill would include one key item that wasn’t in Biden’s plans: vision, dental and hearing benefits for Medicare recipients, who are disproportionately those over 65 years old.