Really good article.
There it is. If only facts were as accessible as opinions.For example, a single male who earned an average wage, was employed every year from age 22 to 64 and turned 65 this year would have paid about $70,000 into the Medicare system, in inflation-adjusted terms. Sounds like a lot, right? But bear in mind that he should expect to receive about $197,000 in Medicare benefits. A two-earner couple of the same age, both of whom also worked every year since age 22 at the average wage, would have paid in $141,000 to get some $427,000 in benefits.
Facts are nice. More folks need to get a handle on their emotions so they can actually see the facts. I think that my relationship with my government is similar to that of my spouse in some ways. A very wise acquaintance once told me, "If your marriage is normal, you'll both feel as though the division of labor is 60/40, with both of you feeling like you are carrying the 60 percent load. Health care is analogous in the sense that so many people bemoan the "lazy freeloaders" that are far and beyond the exception, rather than the rule, all the while choosing to ignore the government provided assistance that enables their employer to provide their "hard earned" benefits. Great article.
The thing I had difficulty believing was that the 197000 number was still greater than the amount the Medicare-user would have been able to make investing the Medicare payments instead of paying them every year. I guess it depends on what year you begin investing and what interest rates you can assume, but still.
In three years I have had four "health care" insurers. My old policy was cancelled Jan 1, 2012 and replaced by one that was twice as expensive. OK. Fine. I have to pay for others to be guaranteed health care. Fine Then the state told insurers that "domestic partnerships" in my state can only be homosexual ... so I got dumped from our insurance and got on another one. They dumped me for some reason , I literally don't understand but some bureaucratic bullshit. So now I am a househusband with my state's version of Medicaid. I'm sure that I will get dropped form that, and I will likely have to pay a fine. Single payer, yes please. Getting pushed and shoved around by huge insurance companies, the state, and the federal government to pour money into the pockets of private companies ... only to be fined not to? No, thank you.