[Tom Joad]

Even our government run single payer program, Medicare, falls short of what we need. But I'd still support expanding it to cover everyone, as a step in the right direction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...ealth_Care_Act

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/five-m...171627975.html

Medicare doesn't cover what you think it does.

It's no secret that health costs are a major burden, but many people wrongly assume that once they pass 65, Medicare will be there to deal with the problem.

Not even close. Traditional Medicare, the federal health insurance program, covers on average just 48% of an enrollee's health costs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

There are routine costs Medicare generally doesn't cover, such as eyeglasses and hearing aids. Dental care, where it's easy to rack up bills totaling thousands of dollars for a root canal, isn't covered. Retirees still have to pay deductibles, which when dealing with a chronic or serious illness can quickly run up the tab.

The biggest problem: Medicare doesn't cover the cost of a long-term-care facility or of home health-care aides. Shirley Whitenack, an elder-care attorney in Florham Park, N.J., says many retirees need a Medicare supplemental insurance policy, otherwise known as Medigap.

According to Kaiser, the average Medigap premium was $2,200 a year in 2010. But premiums vary by age. At 80, beneficiaries paid 52% more than 65-year-olds. "It is important to budget the cost of a Medigap policy in the retirement years," Ms. Whitenack says. Even then, she notes, Medigap policies won't cover nursing-home care.