Medicare

Currently the average couple on Social Security pays about 10% of their income for Medicare premiums. Proposed changes would make that closer to 30% for private insurance instead.

In my area, if they will sell it to you and there are no pre-existing conditions to get in the way, health insurance for a couple at retirement age will cost you $18,000 a year for a policy with a $2,000 deductible.

The new plan proposed to replace Medicare will give that same couple just under $12,000 to buy that $18,000 private insurance policy (which sends more tax dollars to private companies).

The average Social Security income for a couple is less than $22,000 a year.

That means after they buy insurance and pay their deductible (22 + 12 – 18 – 2), a couple will have $14,000 left over for everything else. That everything else includes, among other things, food, shelter, heat, co-pays and co-insurance. That’s assuming they don’t get sick. Take my wife and me as an example. We get more than that average. Still, for us, basic non-discretionary living costs and high out-of-pocket medical expenses mean that we would have about $6,000 a year to live on.

Can you live on $6,000 a year? How about after 15 years of inflation?

Please understand that cutting Medicare or Social Security isn’t about balancing a budget, it’s about people’s lives.