Retirement Crisis

[scooterbug44]

Perhaps if primary care physicians were paid by Medicare to advise elderly patients of other "options", besides trying to extend their unproductive lives, The US could save money and reduce the carbon footprint in one fell swoop.

Get a grip.

The government didn't pay me and I had that discussion with my parents - because they are legally in charge of me and I am legally in charge of them.

It's called planning ahead - and it's a good thing.

 

[AndrewG]

What...No welcome back?

 

[AndrewG]

are you really bringing up the "death panels" again...

I wouldn't go so far as to label it death panels but definitely rationing.

 

[poppy]

Perhaps if primary care physicians were paid by Medicare to advise elderly patients of other "options", besides trying to extend their unproductive lives, The US could save money and reduce the carbon footprint in one fell swoop.

Has your doctor advised you to extend your unproductive life?

 

[AndrewG]

There's nothing unproductive about me. Perhaps you need a visit.

 

[poppy]

There's nothing unproductive about me. Perhaps you need a visit.

I did and he said he had a patient named AndrewG who is such a burden on society he was going to euthanize him next visit.

 

[Lake View Too]

I did and he said he had a patient named AndrewG who is such a burden on society he was going to euthanize him next visit.

Can I watch??? (Just joking FTLOC!!!)

 

[John R]

soylent green......is.........people

 

[30ashopper]

WASHINGTON ? What you paid in Medicare taxes shows up on your W-2 income tax form every year. So when you retire, you want your money's worth.

That's how most Americans see it. In an Associated Press-GfK poll nearly 6 out of 10 said they paid into the system so they deserve their full benefits ? no cuts.

But a newly updated financial analysis shows that what people paid into the system doesn't come close to covering the full value of the medical care they can expect to receive as retirees.

Consider an average-wage, two-earner couple together earning $89,000 a year. Upon retiring in 2011, they would have paid $114,000 in Medicare payroll taxes during their careers.

But they can expect to receive medical services ? from prescriptions to hospital care ? worth $355,000, or about three times what they put in.

The estimates by economists Eugene Steuerle and Stephanie Rennane of the Urban Institute think tank illustrate the huge disconnect between widely-held perceptions and the numbers behind Medicare's shaky financing. Although Americans are worried about Medicare's long-term solvency, few realize the size of the gap.

"The fact that you put money into the system doesn't mean it's there waiting for you to collect," said Steuerle.

By comparison, Social Security taxes and expected benefits come closer to balancing out.

The same hypothetical couple retiring in 2011 will have paid $614,000 in Social Security taxes, and can expect to collect $555,000 in benefits. They will have paid about 10 percent more into the system than they're likely to get back.

"With Medicare, we are all still making out like bandits, shoving all those costs to future generations," said Steuerle. "At another level, we know that this system is totally unsustainable."

Your Medicare taxes won't cover what you'll cost - Yahoo! News

 

[30ashopper]

Rationing and "early after life planning" may well be the only way to keep government funded healthcare solvent.