President Obama claims that his Obamacare will reduce the overall cost of medical care. There are lots of detractors, including me, who say that this is impossible without limiting the types and amount of medical care available. But, could he have in mind achieving government cost savings in another way? If Obamacare eventually leads to reductions in the medical care options available to the elderly, their life expectancy will be shortened. This will lead to reduced payouts in Social Security benefits.

I know that he claims that no such policy is included in Obamacare. Perhaps it isn't in the current bill, but what about next year? It can always be added later. Actually, it doesn't have to be spelled out in the bill itself. It can simply be implemented as a preferred practice by the policy making board that the bill does authorize.

There are also a lot of federal civil service retirees out there drawing their pensions directly from the Treasury. Although federal workers contribute a percentage of their salaries to  a "retirement fund," no such fund exists. The government just spends the contribution on something else and assumes the responsibility to pay retirees from the Treasury.

So, if federal retirees start dying at a younger age, further government cost savings will accrue. There aren't nearly as many federal retirees as Social Security recipients, but federal retirees generally draw more than Social Security recipients.

If four retirees draw an annual pension of $50,000 dollars each from federal civil service and/or Social Security, the government saves a million dollars if they die five years younger. And that doesn't even count any savings on their medical care.

Is this fear-mongering? I don't think so.