A Doctors' Note On Medicare Page 3
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810 Facts That Impact The Medicare Program
Longevity Has Increased Dramatically, But Medicare’s Age Of Eligibility Has
Not.
In 1965 the average life expectancy
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was 70.2 years. However, because of improvements in medical innovation and public health, today life expectancy is nearing 80
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years.
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Medicare Loses An Estimated $60-$100 Billion Each Year To Waste, Fraud And Abuse.
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While the current Medicare program
loses billions of taxpayer dollars each year, unfortunately, even if it were possible to totally prevent or eliminate all fraud and abuse, the
program would still face insolvency.
Seniors Receive, On Average, Three Times The Amount Of Benefits They Paid Into The System
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. Consider the example of an
average-wage, two-earner couple together earning $87,000 a year. Upon retiring in 2011, they would have paid $119,000 in Medicare payroll
taxes during their careers. But they can expect to receive medical services – from prescriptions to hospital care – worth $357,000, or about
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three times what they paid into the program during their career.
Seniors Pay Only A Quarter Of The Cost Of A Doctor Visit, Even Though LBJ Envisioned They Would Pay Half
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. When the
program began in 1966, seniors’ Medicare premiums were intended to finance 50% of Part B costs per aged enrollee with the remainder
funded by the federal government. President Lyndon Johnson highlighted this 50/50 cost share when he signed Medicare into law saying, “And
under a separate plan, when you are 65 you may be covered for medical and surgical fees whether you are in or out of the hospital. You will pay
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$3 per month after you are 65 and your Government will contribute an equal amount.”
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Currently, Each Day About 10,000 Baby Boomers Age Into Medicare
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The rapid growth in eligible beneficiaries places an
unprecedented strain on the program’s already-shaky financing.
1
Kochanek, Kenneth D. et al, “Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2009,” National Vital Statistics Reports, Volume 59, Number 4, March 16, 2011,
2
Newt Gingrich& Barry Rand, “Stop Paying Crooks: Get Tough on Health-care Fraud,” Orlando Sentinel, September 29, 2010,
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Urban Institute, “Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Benefits Over a Lifetime,” June 2011,
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Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965. Volume II, entry 394, pp. 811-815, Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1966,
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Pew Research Center, “Baby Boomers Approach Age 65 – Glumly,“ December 20, 2010,
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