Last year our government paid more than 500 billion dollars to over 45 million beneficiaries of Social Security. But that's only the beginning. The first of 77 million baby boomers are starting to retire, meaning the costs will be far greater — and paid by fewer and fewer workers. That's the bad news. But the good news is that by making minor changes now, we can provide the breathing room necessary to devise solutions for our long term Social Security problems.

Listening to younger workers, I have found very few who believe Social Security will be there for them at retirement — and many of them are less than thrilled about paying higher taxes to support us baby boomers. But when I talk to my fellow boomers, nearly all say screw 'em: we've earned it and we want it. But the truth is, both positions have merit. So unless we all work together and make structural changes to Social Security, both positions will harden and things will get uglier very quickly.

Under my plan, there will be no change in Social Security benefits for those born before January 1st, 1950. But for those born after January first, which includes me, the earliest age to qualify for Social Security will be 64. This small change, plus accelerating the incremental increase in the age to qualify for full benefits, will make a big difference, and cause very little pain. And while most older Americans will need Social Security, there are those who will not. For those Americans, voluntarily opting out of Social Security will also make a big difference. I know you've earned it, but lessening the burden on our children and grandchildren should give all a sense of pride and be worthy of patriotic duty. And in the context of my tax policy, which allows younger workers to keep more of their hard-earned money for retirement, the light they see at the end of the tunnel will not be a speeding freight train.

We spent the same amount on Medicare last year as we did on Social Security: another 500 billion dollars. But life expectancies have gone up since Medicare was first enacted, so increasing the eligibility age just one year, to 66, will greatly reduce costs — while posing little health risk to participants. And by scrapping our existing Medicare program and replacing it with a medical voucher system, not only will Medicare costs be further reduced, the quality of health care for participants will not suffer. Here's how it works.

Toward the end of each year, the government will provide every Medicare participant a voucher to purchase health insurance for the following calendar year. But these vouchers would be individual-specific, meaning the dollar amount will be based upon the participant's medical condition. For example, a fairly healthy individual might get a 9000 dollar voucher, but someone with cancer may receive an 80,000 voucher. These vouchers will be used to pay their insurance premiums for one year. Should the cancer patient need more than 80,000 dollars in care, the insurance company would make up the difference. But if the patient needed less than 80,000 dollars, the insurance company could retain the difference. And because those in the worst medical condition would receive the largest vouchers, the insurance companies will be just as happy to enroll them as those in better condition.

To accomplish this, the government would need up-to-date medical records on all Medicare participants. But with technologies already available, this could be easily collected and managed. All information would be kept confidential, and released only to those insurance providers chosen by Medicare participants. All insurers competing for participants will provide a basic set of benefits, including prescription drug coverage. And such competition among companies will ensure participants receive the best medical care for their voucher dollars.

Under this voucher program, there would be small incentive for patients to ask doctors to falsify medical conditions, as it wouldn't provide them any better insurance protection. And the insurance providers would have an incentive to keep their customers from overusing the health care system. While not perfect, this voucher program will reduce fraud and help restore fiscal responsibility to Medicare — while providing the highest quality of service to its participants.