It sounds like it should be good news - an article just released by Reuters regarding life spans and American health suggests that US citizens could live much longer than the government believes.

However, when Medicare is at stake, what could be good news starts to sound bad. As Americans age and place a larger burden on Medicare, supplemental insurance may soon become the most important coverage you can get.

According to the article, advances in medical care could lead Americans to live up to 6 years longer than the government currently estimates. That doesn't sound like much, but when you're talking about millions of aging Americans, all of whom qualify for Medicare, you can see what kind of problem we're facing.

The result could likely be the collapse of Medicare. Or, it could mean that supplemental insurance will become an American necessity.

Medicare supplemental insurance offers coverage for seniors who feel that Medicare itself won't offer enough services for them as they age. It has to be purchased separately from a private provider, and often includes more long-term care benefits like longer hospital stays and more hospice care.

But many Americans don't purchase supplemental insurance because they feel that Medicare will be enough, or because they simply can't afford more insurance.

With health care legislation impending it isn't clear exactly what insurance will cost in the future, but if the government is wrong about life spans, and the physicians cited in Reuters are right, then Medicare will likely find itself in jeopardy some time in the next 40 years.