They are perceived as "earned benefits," which is why they are called entitlement programs. The reality is that they represent over $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities. People are getting far more out of the programs than they contributed. The average Medicare beneficiary receives three times more than they paid into the program. The premiums paid for Medicare Parts B and D cover, by law, only 25% of the costs. The rest comes from the General Fund, which is why Medicare will consume the entire federal budget if it is not reformed. It just some more redistribution of wealth.
This graph shows that the average man and woman (average defined in the study as average income over their working lives and living to the average life expectancy) who start receiving benefits in 2010 get over 3 times more in benefits than they pay in to the system! Of importance, the study accounts for inflation by calculating all past taxes and future payments in 2010 dollars to provide an accurate comparison.
If the notion that Medicare recipients are simply "getting back what they paid in" is false then where is the money coming from? Simply, the excess received is being borrowed from younger generations and the cost is more than we can bear.