Yes the Part D policy premiums are maybe 25%, but that’s only part of the story. Unless your meds are almost “over the counter” generics, our CO-PAYs are a hellofa lot higher.
From comparing many of the Part D insurers coverage, there is obviously a lot of discounting negotiated with the drug manufacturers for the estimated remaining 50% of a drug’s cost. How much Medicare is paying is not clear, but it can’t be much.
Still, I for one would much prefer to buy my own health and meds private insurance, but the Gubmit requires us to join up with Medicare to enable getting the SS we paid through the nose for all the years.
According to the Trustee's report, the General Fund picked up $222 billion in FY-2011 for Medicare Parts B and D (SMI). With 10,000 people retiring every day for the next 20 years, these costs will continue to increase and the General Fund, by law, picks up 75% of the costs.
"But this is just the beginning of Medicare's problems, because it also has two other programs: part B, which covers doctor's visits, and part D, which pays for prescription drugs.
The unfunded portion of Medicare part B is already covered by general revenues under current law. The present value of that is $37 trillion or 2.8% of GDP in perpetuity according to the trustees report (p. 111). The unfunded portion of Medicare part D, which was rammed into law by George W. Bush and a Republican Congress in 2003, is also covered by general revenues under current law and has a present value of $15.5 trillion or 1.2% of GDP forever (p. 127).