The subsidy provided under Medicare to current enrollees

Article Abstract:

Some Medicare enrollees must subsidize the Medicare benefits of other sometimes higher income enrollees. This subsidy is necessary because contributions made by or for current enrollees pay for only 1/3 of expected lifetime benefits. For men who paid the Hospital Insurance payroll tax each year from 1966 to 1990 the subsidy will average at $21,500; for women it will be $35,400. The payment of this subsidy without regard for the income levels of those who give and receive funds and the anticipated growth in Medicare recipients as the baby-boom generation ages make this subsidy worrisome.

Statistics, Subsidies

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Another form of "elderly bashing." (response to Sandra Christensen, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, vol. 17, no. 2, Summer 1992)

Article Abstract:

Sandra Christensen's contention that younger, less affluent Medicare enrollees subsidize the benefits of older, high-income enrollees perpetuates the tendency to blame US social problems on the elderly. Christensen's analysis is rife with errors such as describing payroll taxes as 'self-insurance' contributions and questioning whether governments should use taxes to pay for desirable projects. Faulty thinking such as Christensen's will do nothing to further the many much-needed genuine reforms such as making Medicare benefits available to all elderly and disabled people.

Aged, Elderly, Conflict of generations, Generation gap

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