Medicare is not free!

Unfortunately, most gov't funded programs like Medicare are going to cease to exist as they suffer the same cost overruns as everything else. Too many people drawing on the system and too few paying.
We are going to wish that people kept having more than 1.5 kids.
ALL insurances are a giant ponzi scheme, the lucky few that "do well" are those that are in the "middle" when coffers are full.
I feel bad for the seniors, since they are accustomed to living on what the gov't hands out. And they were promised things, but the reality is that the federal gov't is broken beyond repair (bankrupt) and also morally not responsible because it has no conscience. And what is working is FUBAR'd and corrupt.
The future does not look good for anyone. I've been paying into all the systems for 30+ years, and I doubt I'll ever see a dime of it.

We have a unique view on medicare - DH is on it and I am quite a bit younger than him and buy my own health insurance (catastrophic coverage with very limited preventive care, $150+ per month with $3,000 deductible).

This thread with the back and forth between those over 65 and those under 65 reveals the brokenness of our health care delivery system.

The more government has become involved, the worse things have become. If we'd paid our social security and medicare taxes into private accounts for the same amount of time we'd have decent piles of money to care for ourselves and a real market among doctors, hospitals, labs and other providers. As it is, we have a complicated and opaque bureaucracy that literally steals the services of our medical professionals. Medicare "reimbursements" are a joke if you have to support a medical practice. This system is collapsing on itself.

So let's all stick together - older and younger folks. It's the system, not us! It's the taxing and the spending, not us!

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The three divine teachers of man: worldly calamity, bodily ailment, and unmerited enmity, and there is but through God alone a deliverance from them. Maine Farmer's Almanac

I find this humerous, considering this thread is about how medicare and SS don't pay enough. Many have called both programs socialist.

I predict you'll get one when the Q3 average of CPI-W is over 215.495, which was the average in the third quarter of 2008

COLA increases for SS are formula driven. The formula resulted in a number that would have been a 2.1% decrease for 2010. By law, they do not decrease it, so evryone is still at the 2010 level.

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thanks for all the information and replies........I guess all of us "GUMMY BEARS" are in the same boat........I for one thought when I was 18 the world was at my hands........now it is a different tune for sure!!

this has been true since at least the 80s.

my great aunt was born in 1900, died in 1997, never married.

she had a small pension plus social security. medicare was $250 a month which left her $350 a month for rent, food, etc. I know because she reached the point in the mid 80s that my parents started writing her checks for her and she just signed them as her hand writing was getting illegible. I would take care of her when my parents left for the winter. she was sharp as a tack to the end but not very good with managing her money.

by 1988 she had to move in with my parents because $350 a month wouldn't pay rent, utilities and leave anything for food. she was down to 105 lbs because she didn't tell anyone.

she lived very simply in the same 1 bedroom tiny apartment she had lived in since 1950 in a very bad downtown area of indpls. never learned to drive so no car or expenses. just the apartment, food.

just pointing out that medicare has taken a huge part of ss for a very long time now. but it certainly left her with more than her parents ever had (they both died before SS). she still ended up having to live with family in her old age to survive but at least she had a little *pin* money.

and she lived alone until 88 yo. if she had lived a normal life span (for her generation about 75), she could have stayed independent until the end. but a new landlord in 1988 renovated and raised her rent to the point she had no money left for food.

That would be true if everyone had actually had the self control to pay it into an account and leave it there. Sadly the general population isn't much better than Congress and they like to spend rather than save too.

how much have you paid into medicare before you retired?

people working now 1.45%...... I would bet years ago the percentage was less...... so overall you probably did not pay that much in. anyone having major work do ... heart attck/cancer etc. sucked that amount up the amount they paid in within a day or 2 in the hospital

why did you not save some money for retirement... it's just common sence

life sucks ...deal with it

But it's not up to the govt to decide that for us. It is absolutely none of the govt's business as to who has saved what and where. SS and all those entitlement programs are nothing more than legalized Ponzi schemes.

I'd lay ya dollars to donuts that, if people hadn't learned to expect the govt to take care of everything, there'd be a lot more responsible people.

And when the govt finally gets its hands out of our pockets, people will learn how to take care of themselves once again. Granted, that's going to be one sharp learning curve for many, but it's about time people stood up and took some personal responsibility.

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Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

That will Never happen. Better get used to THAT.
And in 1985. Regardless WHAT any Party has said, OR is saying now, back in 1985 The government took out Plenty of Bonds to take care of all the baby boomers with SS payments for Years and Years to come.. Do NOT listen to ANY party that says SS is broke and is paying out more money that they are taking in.
That is just not happening, and is just a political PLOY used by both parties to get YOUR votes.~`
I am going to searching around and see if I can find that report on just what took place in 1985~!
I just heard that this weekend by a SS administrator, Not a person that will be getting elected or is running for any office.

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Oh my, dishes yet to wash and dry

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I don't think they would have ever come up with the idea if everyone was taking care of themselves and nobody needed it to begin with. I'll grant you that it has definitely made the whole situation worse and increased irresponsibility and I even agree with you that we shouldn't have it. But I still think we can't say well if we had just had that money ourselves we would have done better.

It depends in how long you paid in to the program. If you paid-in for over 10 years (40 quarters) then yes, there is no Part A premium. If you paid-in for 30 to 39 quarters then the premium is $254/month. If you paid-in less than 30 quarters then the premium is $461/month.

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So what happens to the older people who simply refuse to buy extra coverage? They get a deduction for Medicare from their SS. If they literally cannot buy extra coverage, and will not or cannot pay the deductables what happens? Do they just get sued? Creditors cannot garnish SS, so does it even matter? I know some really poor older people, and am curious about how they manage.

The only thing SSI trust funds have ever been allowed to be invested in is federal bonds so I am not sure what your point is?

http://web.archive.org/web/200307241...ACT/part5.html

Read this page i can not copy it but it says they have shored up SS for bobay boomers for many years to come. So like I said don;t get caught up in the hype from either party that the SS system is broke.

http://books.google.com/books?id=GAV...page&q&f=false What this is,,, is from the Congressional record.
And we are not talking "pie charts and figures here, as all that is political rendering, and stable floor politics.

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Oh my, dishes yet to wash and dry

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It says they had surpluses in 1983 that they invested into bonds (just like ALL the SSI money is invested) and they were discussing taking that surplus to pay down the federal deficit.

Keep in mind as I posted above all of the SSI trust funds are invested in government bonds. That means in order to pay you your check they have to cash in those bonds once they use up all the incoming funds from people like me. Basically the government borrows from itself and pays itself back. You just have to hope they can keep paying on those bonds.....

Ain't nothin' free. I have a hard time believing that people don't know you have to pay for Medicare. Heck, it's been all over the news for the last few years. There are commercials every year about the Medigap pharmacy policies.

If you have regular, retirement SS or SSD, yes, you have to take Medicare.... if you want any coverage. If you have Medicaid, and are eligible for Medicare, you have to take Medicare for Medicaid to pay.

Those with SSI (poor and disabled and without work history) are not eligible for Medicare.

If the government invested our money we'd have a better return on what they've done. <sigh>

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Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD

Well, it's not really only $97/month. DH is in his early 70s. His supplemental policy is another $150/month. Most people also have to get a policy for meds too. Those policies absolutely stink for those who have chronic health problems. There's coverage at the beginning then a gap where there's no coverage for meds, then coverage again. The donut hole means you have to pay several thousands before they cover you again. My dad is in the donut hole right now.

DH doesn't have to have coverage for medicines. He gets his at the VA. Whew!

Thing is that Medicare isn't expensive coverage..... but it's not good coverage either. What do you think will happen with Obamacare? Hmmmm???????

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Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD

What helped put things in perspective for me is the cost of obtaining individual health insurance when I was 52 and lost my employer paid policy. The cheapest I could find with a deductible of $1500.00 was over $400.00 a month. This was a 80/20 policy which is what Medicare is. If I were shopping for insurance right now at age 62, that same policy would cost around $600.-700.00 if I were in perfect health, which I'm not. I couldn't even get insurance at present except through the Texas high risk pool, which is extremely expensive. So for me, paying $100.00 +/- a month for Medicare part B is a bargain, even though it doesn't pay for everything. But neither does my current policy.

Joshie, my neighbor gets full coverage thru the VA. Laughs at the rest of us. Must be the amount of disability--everyone in his family has diabetes--but only he and his brother were in the service--so VA has tp pay for it.Sounds strange--its definetly not service related.

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In Life, We Weep at the thought of Death'
Who Knows, Perhaps in Death,
We Weep at the though of Life.

????????????

All of these years you have been covered by a disability and medical policy, you were just lucky enough not to have needed it. You now will be covered by a policy up to the last most expensive medical years of your life. For your sake I hope you're lucky enough to never use a penny of it.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
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