Did you know
- That wealthy persons that never paid a dime in Medicare taxes can become fully insured under Medicare Advantage plans for less than $700 per month?
- That Medicare benefits are the same for all persons regardless of the amount of wages they earned?
- That only people that have to work for a living pay Medicare taxes?
The cost of insurance for a person 64 years of age that has any sort of preexisting conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes along with even minimally elevated cholesterol is $1200 a month in most state risk pools. So the rich can save themselves about $500 a month by signing up for Medicare even though they never paid any of the taxes.
This is so because all persons over 65 years of age, being a resident of the United States for at least 5 years are illegible for Medicare. But a person who has not paid Medicare taxes will have to pay a premium of $446.
While Social Security is rightfully a wage tax, Medicare should not be. Medicare taxes should be paid on taxable income from whatever source and all persons should receive free Medicare part 'A' at age 65. This would increase the total cost of Medicare by a maximum of 2.3%, but increase Medicare tax revenue by 29%. Broadening the base of the current Medicare tax would produce a deficit reduction of half a trillion dollars over the next 10 years while not harming the middle class in any way because the middle class has investment income in tax sheltered IRA and 401K accounts. The additional tax revenue would come from the very well off.
Because this would reduce the deficit and make Medicare solvent for the foreseeable future, it is a reconciliation bill.
How this plays into the current HCR mess I know not. But it might represent a possible solution to the current funding problems and the mandate.