Next week I’m scheduled for a cervical spinal fusion that costs upward of $100,000, but I won’t be paying for it. Like 50 million other Medicare recipients, I will receive the medical care I need more or less free of charge thanks to Medicare. It’s something most seniors take for granted — a benefit we believe we’re entitled to because, after all, we paid Medicare taxes all our working lives. But as it happens, those taxes aren’t nearly enough to pay for the benefits we receive from the system — at least for most of us. Despite the fact that I still work and pay hefty Medicare taxes, I am likely to become one of those people who becomes a drain on the system if I live long enough (my mother died at 90, my grandmother at 95).

Medicare is fast becoming unsustainable, especially as baby boomers like me enter the system. We may be living longer and healthier lives, but it’s costing taxpayers more than we can afford unless something changes. Debate in Washington has centered on fixes that are likely to be painful: lower benefits and restrict procedures; raise the age of eligibility; or substantially increase taxes to pay for the system. But a new idea emerged this week from a study that shows that one demographic group in our population actually takes less out than they contribute: immigrants. Allow more people to immigrate here, and we keep Medicare solvent longer.