Bankers Trust, which sells retiree insurance of various types mind you, has comissioned some probably reliable statistical research that proves the obvious: Baby boomers didn't/don't know that Medicare sucks.
We find out fast enough once we start looking at Medicare but maybe a little publicity about this new research will speed up the process and make our children better understand the benefits of Wyden/Ryan and similar proposals to modernize senior health care insurance.
I explain the situation in multiple places on this blog but let me try one more time:
- "Medicare as we know it," as the political left likes to call it, is terrible insurance. It has lifetime limits, which means it does not do the one thing insurance is supposed to do: protect seniors against a costly health catastrophe. In addition, "Medicare as we know it," also known as Original Medicare Parts A and B, has high co pays and deductibles, provides no vision/dental/annual-physical-exam/drug coverage, and is geographically restricted.
- Original Medicare is so bad that over 90% of Medicare beneficiaries nationwide (probably higher in Massachusetts) do not depend on it but instead depend on commercial supplements (although we have to get "Medicare as we know it" first in order to supplement it). Seniors supplement "Medicare as we know it" with commercial insurance from their former employer, commerical insurance bought individually called Medigap policies, and/or new versions of Medicare called Part C Medicare Advantage and Part D Standalone Prescription Drug Plans.
- These new versions of Medicare were enhanced/developed by President George W. Bush and the then Republican Congress in 2003 so the Democratic Party is trying to do away with them. The left is ruining these new Medicare plans although 25% of seniors now use them, twice as many as used them when the legislation was passed.
- Original Medicare costs money (which surprises many baby-boomer enrollees because they've been paying into Medicare for the 45 years of their working lives via a payroll tax). The supplements mentioned above cost even more money of course. The combination is both very confusing and very expensive (the latter is somewhat understandable; we're old!)
- Because of this expense, the federal government and the state of Massachusetts gives away or highly subsidizes much of Medicare and its supplements for low-income seniors. In particular, Massachusetts promotes the former free care pool as supplemental insurance -- taking the money that was originally supposed to go to pay for RomneyCare (now known as Commonwealth Care), or spending the money twice if you prefer.
- If you are not low income and depending on your retiree insurance plan if you have one, in Massachusetts you will spend between $7500 and $9500 per couple a year for your health care insurance in retirement
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