It seems unlikely. I know they got a judge to quickly say that this would count as an SIPC case, but that probably will be contested: like FDIC, the SIPC is paid for by "dues" from member institutions as kind of a collective rainy-day insurance fund for any one of them, but clearly Madoff wasn't a member. I don't see the actual members allowing this event to deplete the coffers without a fight. Most individuals will be able to (like normal) claim losses against any existing gains, and of course corporations aren't limited to the $3k net provision of individuals (on your 1040 you can only claim up to $3k of losses against non-investment income; the rest has to roll forward to be used in the future). For those highlighted in the news reports who "invested their life's savings" it seems unlikely they will ever realize the tax "benefit" ... and you can't inherit a tax benefit directly.
What I started to say before sending too soon is that, unlike buying a stock and holding it for 20 years (where you would only have paper instead of realized gains along the way), much of what we know about how Madoff at least claimed to be working his fund leads me to believe that these investors would be realizing gains along the way: turnover, and thus realized gains, would be significant. Most individuals in such a fund would likely take a cash distribution yearly to fund the tax bill and reinvest the remainder of the accumulated gain ... so if you're worried about the "taxpayer footing the bill" you can remember that they have been "footing the taxpayer's bill" for a few decades, on a yearly basis :-)
/jordan