Posted on Thursday, August 14, 2025
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by Outside Contributor
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Medicare has just turned 60. As more Americans turn 65, they want to be sure that Medicare will always be there for them. It will be there, but for Medicare to deliver the most value to America’s seniors, we all need to make smart choices.
Medicare has been a historic success. Sixty years ago, only about half of seniors had health insurance. Today it’s nearly 100 percent. We’re living about eight years longer. Seniors spend less out-of-pocket on healthcare and give Medicare high approval ratings.
But alarm bells are ringing about Medicare’s finances. The most recent Medicare trustees report predicts that Medicare will be able to pay out benefits in full until 2033, at which point the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will run out. At that point, it will only be able to pay out what it receives, resulting in an immediate and dramatic cut in benefits for every Medicare recipient in America, leaving seniors most in need hanging out to dry. No one wants this to happen.
There are a lot of reasons why Medicare’s finances are under strain. The cost of health care is up. People are living longer, but more Americans are living with chronic illnesses and especially metabolic syndrome. As a result, Medicare is providing more healthcare for more people for a longer time. America’s population is growing older, and there are fewer and fewer people paying into Medicare compared to those receiving it. There is an urgent, dire need to shore up Medicare’s finances—or else seniors will face automatic cuts in just eight years.
But there is good news. Under the leadership of our friend Dr. Mehmet Oz, Medicare is doing two things to bring down costs and extend the full benefits to seniors for longer and longer.
First, Medicare is cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse, ensuring that more dollars reach the seniors who need them.
Second, Medicare and the entire Department of Health and Human Services are working to empower seniors to get healthy so that they can live better lives.
There is an old saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This is certainly true in medicine. We have seen this firsthand.
The Cleveland Clinic launched a program rooted in eight measurable health goals we called the “6+2 Normals”—targets for blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, blood sugar, body mass index, tobacco use, stress level, annual primary care visits, and up-to-date screenings and immunizations.
At the start, only six percent of employees hit all of the targets. But with coaching, behavior nudges, and financial incentives, that number climbed up to 43.6 percent in a decade. The result? Annual savings of $190 million in healthcare costs. More importantly, participants gained an estimated 12 years of healthy life, with less disability and more vitality.
Imagine applying that nationally. If Medicare and other public health programs adopted this model, we could see over $2 trillion in savings over 10 years—enough to extend the life of Medicare dramatically. And if longer life meant more people working even a few years longer, we could also generate hundreds of billions more in added tax revenue each year, extending Medicare’s life even longer.
This is a proven model for reducing costs and improving lives. If you are a senior on Medicare—or about to become one soon—then you can and should take concrete steps to improve your health, feel better, and ensure that Medicare is there for you for longer.
Here is how. Move more—at least 210 minutes of moderate activity each week. Eat better—more whole foods, less of the ultraprocessed franken-foods. Make sure that you are getting enough sleep. Reduce unnecessary stress and learn to handle stress better. Quit smoking or vaping. If you take these simple steps, then you will not only extend your own lifespan, you will also help extend Medicare’s, too, preserving it for seniors who need it.
The most important investment in your health is not going to come from Washington. No—it is your next healthy choice to walk, eat right, and ultimately to choose a longer, healthier life both for you and for one of America’s most cherished programs.
Dr. Michael Roizen, MD, served as Cleveland Clinic’s first Chief Wellness Officer from 2007 to 2019 and founding Chair of its Wellness Institute. He has authored over 195 peer-reviewed scientific publications, four New York Times #1 best sellers, 9 overall bestsellers; he and Dr. Mehmet Oz coauthored a daily column syndicated to over 100 newspapers that translates current scientific reports into actionable steps for lay audiences. Dr. Roizen is devoted to helping people live younger. Dr Roizen is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Anesthesiology.
Dr. Peter Linneman, PhD, is an American academic, the principal of Linneman Associates, the CEO & founder of American Land Fund and KL Realty. Dr. Linneman was the founding chairman of the Wharton School of Business’s Real Estate department as well as the director of Wharton’s Sam Zell & Robert Lurie Real Estate Center for 13 years. He is the co-author of The Great Age Reboot: Cracking the Longevity Code for a Younger Tomorrow” (National Geographic, 2022), with Dr. Michael Roizen and Albert Ratner. Dr. Linneman earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
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