Isn’t that just a health insurance plan people paid premiums into for 40 years ? Like any other insurance, what you get back out is paid for by somebody else, not directly from you own premiums.
Of course, it is badly run by people with no regard to setting rates based on actuarial data, but that is hardly the customer’s fault.
Not really. Because while premium levels for insurance are structured to cover risk, there's nothing of the kind for Medicare. You pay taxes based on what you earn - and that's that. No different from paying taxes to cover the cost of welfare, farm subsidies or any other gov't "freebies" (which of course aren't free, you're paying for them). Medicare isn't insurance - it's a taxpayer funded free medical program for certain populations.