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The Medicare health insurance program for seniors generates $2.4 billion for the local economy, or 15 percent of government spending in Hawaii, a new AARP report shows.
The report was released before the 53rd anniversary of the federal law signed by former President Lyndon Johnson in July 1965.
“Medicare is a major economic engine in Hawaii’s economy security, as well as a key part of providing health security to Hawaii residents,” AARP Hawaii State Director Barbara Kim Stanton said in a news release.
Medicare’s spending in the islands includes:
>> $1 billion for hospitals.
>> $720 million for doctors.
>> $86 million for other health professionals.
>> $390 million for prescriptions and medical supplies.
>> $20 million for medical equipment.
Hawaii has 230,659 beneficiaries of Medicare — which insures people 65 or older, certain disabled individuals and patients requiring dialysis or transplants due to permanent kidney disease. The program proposed by former President Harry Truman, Medicare’s first beneficiary, continues to face calls for cutbacks. Congressional Republicans who blame Medicare for driving up the nation’s deficit have proposed turning it into a voucher program that could limit benefits.
A recent federal report projects the program that insures millions of Americans will be depleted by 2026 due to higher hospital spending and lower tax revenues.
