it’s basically a mini mobile home that rents for about $2,000 a month. You park one in the backyard, hook it up to your water and electricity, and it becomes a free-standing spare room for Grandma and Grandpa….

The MEDCottage is homey on the outside, with taupe vinyl siding and white trim around French doors. Inside, it looks like a nice hotel suite, complete with kitchen and bathroom.

According to its creator, it’s designed to take care of the unique needs of older seniors.

The 12-by-24-foot MedCottage is loaded with technology and amenities for the health, comfort and safety of the elderly or those recovering from illness or injury…. The comfortable interior is equipped with the latest technology to monitor vital signs, filter the air for contaminants and communicate with the outside world via high-tech video and cell phone text technology. Sensors alert caregivers to an occupant’s fall, and a computer can remind the occupant to take medications. The technology also provides entertainment, offering a selection of music, reading material and movies. It also contains a family communication center that provides telemetry, environmental control and dynamic interaction to off-site caregivers through smart and robotic technology throughout the charming, comfortable modular home.

Right now, putting a MedCottage in your backyard is illegal in most states — it violates zoning laws. Virginia’s spearheaded the way, with an exemption that started a month ago. Should be interesting to see if the idea lives up to its potential.

Some of the strongest backing for the bill has come from AARP, which sent a letter to committee members on Monday pointing out that the country’s aging population will be poorly served if development patterns don’t evolve to make driving less necessary. “Nine out of ten of our members tell us they want to stay in their own homes as they age — most are living in suburban or rural areas and don’t have access to public transportation,” said Debra Alvarez, senior legislative representative for AARP. “There’s a lot of things that can be done in small towns: co-locating things like post offices, grocery stores, pharmacies, and putting housing there too.”

A few Smart Growth advocates have been making the connection between our aging population and the need for Smart Growth for a while now. It’s great to see that the ideas have gone from theory to senior boots on the ground.

* Preserves the existing Medicare program for those 55 or older.

* For those currently under 55 – as they become Medicare-eligible – creates a Medicare payment averaging $11,000 per year when fully phased in. Adjusts the payment for inflation, and pegs it to income, with low-income individuals receiving greater support. Provides risk adjustment, so those with greater medical needs receive a higher payment….

* Preserves the existing Social Security program for those 55 or older.

* Offers workers under 55 the option of investing over one third of their current Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts, similar to the Thrift Savings Plan available to Federal employees. Includes a property right so they can pass on these assets to their heirs, and a guarantee that individuals will not lose a dollar they contribute to their accounts, even after inflation.

* Makes the program permanently solvent, according to the CBO, by combining a more realistic measure of growth in Social Security’s initial benefits, with a gradual, modest increase in the retirement age, consistent with Americans’ improving lifespans.

For some strange reason, the Free Market Cheerleader Club, a.k.a. the Republican Party, haven’t embraced Ryan’s plan. And as of last night — over a week after the plan was debuted and scored by the CBO — according to Talking Points Memo, only nine Republicans have signed on as cosponsors.

What’s the Republican leadership’s problem with this attempt to curb the creeping socialism of Social Security and Medicare? TPM explains:

when asked [on February 4] at a press conference what about Ryan’s budget he disagreed with, Minority Leader John Boehner couldn’t name anything.

“Off the top of my head, I couldn’t tell you,” Boehner said.

Despite the apparent lack of substantive disagreement, though, Boehner wants to keep the Ryan plan from sticking to the GOP.

“Paul Ryan, who’s the ranking member on our budget committee, has done an awful lot of work in putting together his roadmap,” Boehner said. “But it’s his. And I know the Democrats are trying to say that it’s the Republican leadership. But they know that’s not the case.”

Will the government keep its hands off Medicare? Stay tuned….