Following the World War II baby boom, Americans made a seismic cultural shift, substituting possessions for children, resulting in an aging population of health care users. Health-care costs now total 15 percent of our Gross Domestic Product and are increasing 8 percent annually.

Congress is attempting to reverse these cost increases. While adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare, Congress intends to shift health-care liability back to individuals through private insurers.

No one wants to admit the obvious, but our use of birth control and abortion has deprived us of younger workers to finance Medicare costs. Globalization is further exacerbating this problem, since American workers must compete with foreigners who receive no health-care benefits.

Americans will continue to face higher health-care costs. We are living too long and having too few children.

In order to compensate, older Americans must be encouraged to die younger - a formidable task for a Congress representing an increasingly socialistic electorate.

The Eskimos reportedly put their elders on an ice cake and set them adrift. Congress is faced with the task of hiding an iceberg in Medicare reform.

BILL STONE