Medical Care Costs More than What You Pay Into Medicare
You often hear how efficient Medicare is to operate. It is interesting to hear people compare health plans such as Blue Cross for Shield or United Health Care. They forget that Medicare is a government run health plan. Unfortunately, that means Medicare doesn’t always have to watch the bottom line.
A recent AP article, What You Pay for Medicare Won’t Cover Your Costs, points out how the bad math that Medicare uses. In fact, it is estimated that an average couple making $89,000 and retiring in 2011 would have paid about $114,000 into Medicare. But, they could expect to receive about $355,000. That’s three times the amount they paid into Medicare.
I realize this is a good situation for our seniors. In fact, we all believe we should get more out of our investments. In this case, we’re winning.
Here’s what scares me:
- Medicare covers approximately 46 million seniors right now.
- The first wave of baby boomers will retire in 2011. It is estimated that 3 million people will reach the age of 65 this year alone.
- It is estimated that Medicare will cover over 80 million seniors in 20 years.
- The amount of people paying into Medicare will decrease as the baby boomers retire.
We need to provide our seniors have medical care coverage using a system that will be available for future Medicare recipients. Now is the time to figure out how to ensure Medicare’s success.
