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).
Well I don’t know whether you don’t have any experience with Medicare and are just copy and pasting info from somewhere else or if you are serious in your thinking us SS / Medicare users are ripping you off.
My give-away was your “The unfunded portion of Medicare part B”. The un-funded part of Part B is paid by those of us that elect to BUY IT at about a $100 a month. Then you also don’t seem to know that Part B does not cover all and we have to buy private MediGap insurance to cover the significant portion Part A and Part B do not cover. Then if electing to BUY Part D we have to pay the 25% you claim, then Co-pays and deductable. Top it all off with the most non-sensical confusing coverage regulations on the planet.
I don’t argue that Medicare is some super good deal for us having to use it or to the taxpayers. It sucks, but is what Congress stuck us with. Adding up all the Medicare “Parts” and MediGap insurance, my cost is higher than I could have bought on my own, if the Gubmit would allow it.