In exactly 800 days I will be eligible for the medicare buffet. I and about 3 million others will become eligible in 2012. My hip is starting to hurt but I can wait and so can the rest of my cohort. But rest assured that we will all be lining up for new knees and hips. Read more or click on my official countdown counter to the right of the simonburrow.com/ home page.
So lets do the math. Knee replacement surgery costs about $30,000 and about a million of us will need at least one hip or knee in the next few years. That comes to Thirty Billion Dollars just for the orthopedic needs of people born in 1947.
What can you do about it? If you are looking for a career go into the orthopedic supply business. If you are an investor buy stock in the companies that supply this industry. If you are a taxpayer hang on it is going to be a rough ride.
BTW It might be a good idea to let in a lot more immigrants to help pay for all of the above.