The Tyranny of The Ruling Geriatric Class
How The Elderly Are Bankrupting the Country and Enslaving the Young in The Process
Next year I’ll become a member of the ruling geriatric class. Not by choice, mind you. I’m kind of being forced. If I don’t join, I’ll be penalized. It’s akin to not joining the Communist or Fascist or Nazi party back in the heyday of 20th century totalitarianism: you may avoid severe punishment, but you become pariah and subject to continuous pressure to fall in line—with financial consequences if you don’t. What is this traumatic event taking place on U.S. soil, in the land of the free and the home of the brave, you may ask? I’m enrolling in Medicare.
I don’t need to explain this to readers who are already members of the cabal, that is, those 65 and older, who have been through the initial enrollment rite of passage and annual reaffirmation. But if you’re still too young to have given the subject much thought, here are a few pointers that hopefully will get your attention.
The observant among you may have noticed a 1.45% Medicare tax taken out of each paycheck, but it’s less understood that your employer is on the hook for the same amount for a total of 2.9%. For example, if you make $100,000/year, Uncle Sam collects $1.450 from both you and your employer. This is often advertised as a down-payment on your medical coverage in old age, but the reality is that the money is used right away to cover parts of your parents’ and grandparents’ medical bills.
2.9% per paycheck may not sound much but it adds up over time. If you got to keep the $2,900 per year and invest it with a 5% return over a 40-year career, you’d end up with close to $200,000. So, you’re being robbed of a chunk of cash in exchange for a vague promise of inexpensive health insurance coverage in retirement. Money that would go a long way towards buying affordable health insurance of your choice in a free market.
Why do I say “a vague promise”? Medicare is severely underfunded. As I mentioned in my last article,
an Open The Books investigation based on data from the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Report on the State of The United States Government Fiscal Year 2023, the Social Security and Medicare unfunded liabilities have reached some $175 trillion ($175,000,000,000,000), assuming current contribution levels and outlays continue unchanged until the end of the century. America is aging, and we don’t have enough young people to sacrifice (i.e. to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes) to fund the retirement and healthcare benefits for the old’uns.
Of the $175 trillion, roughly $106.5 trillion, or about $840,000 per U.S. working age (15-64) adult, are attributed to Medicare (I’ll have more to say about Social “Security” in a future article). Feeling the heat yet?
As bleak as the financial future of the program looks, what’s even more outrageous is the injustice done to you, the young. The government continuing to spend more on Medicare than what is collected in taxes means that you’ll have to cover the deficit, the unfunded liabilities mentioned above. Your individual rights are violated to the point of making you slaves to your elders, victims of the tyranny of the ruling geriatric class. They (We) are slowly bankrupting the country, shackling you with financial obligations that will drastically lower your living standard if nothing is done.
It’s up to you to do something about it. You really should be up in arms. Don’t expect any support from our current presidential front runners. They are chartered members of the ruling geriatric class, and highly dependent on election contributions from their fellow class members. They won’t rock the boat. The same goes for many members of Congress.
I’m disgusted by pro-Hamas/anti-Israel campus protesters, but you need to take a (non-violent) page from their playbook and express the same level of moral outrage—with the difference that yours will be justified. Setting in motion a moral groundswell is the only way to get the public on your side and politicians to take notice. I would welcome, support and probably join you in a march on Washington demanding not reforming but phasing out Medicare in the name of erasing your sacrificial lamb status and restoring your individual right to control your health insurance and healthcare. And as you need a platform, start here.
Your piece, as is often the case with the subject of government violations of individual rights, is only the tip of the iceberg. First, Medicare doesn't come free. There is a quarterly premium to pay, and it only covers about 80% of most claims, not all. That extra 20% can be a huge number in itself because of how this system has increased medical costs through the roof. Because you need to cover this 20% you pay a monthly premium for that private insurance. Then you have the Byzantine bureaucracy that underlies it all, the bureaucrats making medical decisions and the scam artists who bilk millions if not more from a broken system. And finally, it doesn't cover a lot of very important drugs, which are hugely important in all of medicine. Just one of these drugs, if you need it, can cost tens or hundreds of thousands a year. The whole thing is a monstrous disaster waiting to happen, and it could be so, so much better if market forces instead of government force had been allowed to operate in the health care industry these last 60 years. Competition, freedom, and human ingenuity will trump government 'guarantees' and bureaucrats every time.
I do wonder why young people entering the workforce and seeing all this extra money being taken out of their paychecks don't ask "why?". As a business owner I get to pay both sides of the "tax". In some ways it becomes a disincentive to make more because more is taken until you reach the high end of the thresholds.
This is another example of how people in power can stay in power as it becomes a topic that no one is willing to address and as long as you promise keeping it in place you don't face any political loss. This goes along with the campaign finance laws. It's all meant to keep those in power in power regardless of party affiliation. We are limiting and restricting new and innovative ideas to solve problems by trampling all over individual rights.