Those are the facts.
The standard $96.00 Part B Premium is, roughly, 25% of the average Part B expense.
Part A is 100% taxpayer subsidized.
Part D is subsidized at about more than $30.00 per month, per person on Medicare Part D.
Your premiums, for Part D alone, are related to actual expenses -—
But even AFTER your contributions to all of your premiums, deductibles, co-pays or gap coverage -—
The taxpayers are paying, on average, $1,660.00 per month, for you and your wife, together!
Yes, you earned it.
However, such government expenditures should not be carried by the young families trying to make ends meet, who have trouble paying for their own health care expenses.
It would be far smarter for the politicians to use the tax code as a way to “means test” benefits for SS and for Medicare.
Actually, it gets worse than that. I am a retired USG employee. I retired at 56. My current pension is $104K and it goes up with the COLA increases. {This year there will probably not be one.} In addition, I carry USG health insurance to supplement Medicare. The USG supplements this insurance by approximately $800 a month. My total contributions to my USG pension amounted to $126,000. I have already received about six times what I put in. Is this a great country or what?
I also receive a small SS pension because I had a total of 40 quarters, which qualifies me for the minimum, which is also reduced because of my other pension. I have already received much more back than I ever contributed. And my spouse does not qualify herself for SS, but she gets SS as well.
However, such government expenditures should not be carried by the young families trying to make ends meet, who have trouble paying for their own health care expenses.
We have had the greatest wealth transfer in history, from young to old. The young don't seem to understand what is happening and the politicians will listen to the those who vote in the greatest numbers, the older citizens. Also, bear in mind that the 54 million or so SS recipients have relatives, i.e., sons, daughters, etc. who don't want the USG cutting back on benefits for their mothers, dads, and grandparents. Like any Ponzi scheme however, you can't continue the scam forever.
It would be far smarter for the politicians to use the tax code as a way to “means test” benefits for SS and for Medicare.
Good luck. They will look to the rich and corporations to fund these systems. And they will also cut down the second largest item in the federal budget, DOD, to fund the entitlement programs. In the not too distant future, we will have to make the same decisions Europe did between guns and butter. They chose butter and so will we.