HEALTH CARE CONTROL COMING TO AN EMPLOYER NEAR YOU. It’s benefits open season at my wife’s place of employment. In filling out the renewal forms for our medical “insurance” coverage, I found this little nugget:

Due to recent legislation, medical plans must submit SSNs of individuals age 45 (!) or older to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The purpose of the new reporting requirements is to enable CMS to correctly pay for the services provided to Medicare beneficiaries who also receive employer-sponsored health care benefits.

Hmm ... 45 or older? Doesn’t Medicare coverage begin at age 65? and only then if you apply?

Add electronic health records to the mix and you can get a foretaste of things to come.