I am on Medicare – it is now in The US Supreme Court…Here are the real facts

I am on Medicare – it is now in The US Supreme Court…Here are the real facts

I am on Medicare. Every person I ask, without exception, who is also on Medicare has told me that they wish everyone in America could have Medicare. Here is how it works. My Medicare premium is $99.90 a month and is deducted  from my Social Security check. That pays 80% of all my Part B (SMI) doctor’s bills. The remaining 20% is paid by a private insurer with a Medigap Policy with a monthly premium of $176.41. Does it make sense that my 20% Medigap policy costs so much more than my 80% Medicare plan. Let us do a little simple math. Multiply $99.90 times 1.20% ($99.90x1.20%), that equals $119.88. That is what my premium would be if Medicare paid 100% of all my Part B costs. Next subtract the Medigap premium of $176.41 from $119.88. That is the extra amount I pay to a private insurer because Medicare does not pay 100% of all my doctor’s bills. (76.41-119.88) equals $56.53. Multiply that by 12 months ($56.53x12), or $678.36 a year. Now In round numbers there are about 50 million people on Medicare, so multiply $678.36 x 50,000,000 million and that equals  $33,918,000,000, or $33.9 billion dollars a year. Now project that over 10 years (33,918,000,000 x 10 equals $339,180,000,000), or $282.5 billion dollars. That number is a hidden subsidy to the insurance industry. It simply drives up the cost of healthcare. Now think about this, the elderly have much higher medical bills that younger healthier Americans. What if Medicare paid $119.88 a month, or $1438.56 a year, to insure 300 million Americans,  just multiply $1438.56 times 300 million Americans ($1438.56 x 300,000,000). That equals $431,568,000,000 or $431.5 billion dollars a year, Compare the $431.5 billion to the $2.1 trillion dollars that America now spends for health insurance. It seems to me that the real job killer in America is the insurance industry. Is it any wonder they vehemently oppose Medicare for all Americans. Who really benefits - the American people or the insurance industry? And now the 112^th US Congress wants to repeal Obama’s Health  Care Law.

Some members of Congress insist that Medicare is going broke.  According to the current Trustees Report part B (SMI) and part D (RX) Medicare will remain in surplus because their premium can be adjusted each year to cover the anticipated expense. Part A (HI) has no revenue adjustment formula under current law and does need corrective action to avoid drawing down its trust assets. There are many ways to solve this problem. One solution offered was to advocate wider use of “living wills”, because hospital costs for the elderly in the last 6 months of their life often are enormous while the quality of their life decreases.  Part C (Medicare Advantage Plans), which the private insurance industry promised  would cost less than Fee for Service Medicare, turns out to cost Medicare, according to the Trustees, almost 15% more than the regular fee for service Medicare. Part D (RX) plans are funded entirely by a premium I pay to private insurers.  Last year I paid $27.60. In 2012 my cost will be $33.10.  Just imagine how much less drugs would cost if the government was allowed to negotiate the cost of drugs and ran the program. After all the government is the largest purchaser of drug and funds most drug research.