Alright, so you pay $1,200 a year for a health care program that would cost you probably 5 to 10 times as much if it were not subsidized by the government. You are still getting a boatload of free money from the government. Cry me a river.
total ignorance
Very few people understand how expensive healthcare for a 65+ year-old is. In 2008, Medicare spent $10,188 per beneficiary.
http://www.medpac.gov/documents/Jun12DataBookEntireReport.pdf
see Chart 2-2
The Medicare Part B payment deducted from the Medicare beneficiary’s Social Security old-age welfare benefit is trifling by comparison: about $1200 vs. $10,188.
By the way, that $10,188 reflects monopsonistic Medicare reimbursement rates, which are very much lower than the prices charged to non-Medicare patients. The higher prices for non-Medicare patients cause private insurance premiums to be much higher than they would be in a free market. And, heaven help a private patient without insurance, because their unnegotiated “rack rates” for medical services are obscene.
Like you said: Cry me a river.
However, I don’t blame geezers for getting all the welfare benefits they can get their grubby hands on. I’m approaching geezerhood, and intend to do likewise. I didn’t vote for this system, I don’t consent to this system, but I’m not going to be a sucker.