Yea, you paid some money into these programs and you keep telling yourself you are not part of the BIG government program and not being totally selfish but think about this:

1. Social Security and Medicare ARE big Federal Government programs largely done by Democrats with Republicans calling it Socialism and BIG government totalitarianism. They said it was not American for the government to force them to pay for these programs. Republicans have been trying to get rid of these programs ever since. Both Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D (prescription drug plan) were Republican plans that were gifts to insurance companies and contributed as much or more to the deficit than the new Health Care Reform package will.

Medicare Advantage does not offer any new benefits over basic Medicare without increased premiums and costs the government 14% more than the same benefits offered in basic Medicare. For the same benefits, Medicare Advantage hands out wads of case to private insurance companies to offer the same benefits as basic Medicare.

The prescription drug plan prohibits cost negations based on huge quantities that the government purchases. Bulk negotiations are regularly done in private business but the Republicans in the Bush administration wanted to make sure the drug companies got a sweetheart deal that cost you as much money over the next ten years as the cost of the Health Reform Bill.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/opinion/12krugman.html
http://www.americansforcoordinatedhealthcare.org/the_next_healthcare_battle_cutting_medicare_advantage/pid:5

2. As an older person you are part of a high risk insurance pool. Before these programs you could not get insurance. Many older people died on the street. Private insurance companies could not make a profit on you. The cost to insure you was more than they made on premiums. The situation is even more severe now that the cost of medical care has been increasing much faster than inflation. The money you paid into these programs would not come close to covering the costs that you have accumulated for the following reasons:

a) One of the causes for the projected deficits is that the number of workers paying taxes compared to the number of people receiving benefits has fallen and is projected to fall further.

b) Increase in life expectancy without a comparable increase in the retirement age:

– Since Social Security began paying benefits in 1940, the life expectancy of the average 65-year old male and female has gone up 40% and 45% respectively.

– Benefits and taxes are automatically indexed on an annual basis to compensate for inflation and wage growth. The retirement age is not indexed to compensate for increased life expectancy.

c) The higher birth rate of the baby boom generation compared to the birth rates of succeeding generations:

– In 1960 (during the baby boom), the average birth rate per woman was 3.6. By 1975, the average birth rate had fallen to 1.77. As of 2004, it is at 2.05.

d) The increasing number of people receiving disability benefits:

– Between 1960 and 2005, the U.S. population grew by 59%. During the same period, the number of people receiving disability benefits increased by 1,109%.

e) Health care cost have increased dramatically more than what the projected cost increases

http://www.justfacts.com/socialsecurity.basics.asp
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/102xx/doc10297/06-25-LTBO.pdf

The bottom line is that you are drawing out more than you paid in. You can complain about the Federal Government all you want but you would not have any health care without the government. The numbers do not work.

3. A lot of you are in programs you never paid into like Part D (prescription drugs). My dad does not need part D because he is on a prescription drug program for veterans of WW2. He never paid into this but he is a big Republican and thinks he is not on a government program – he says he has never taken anything from the government.

4. If the commerce clause the Republicans are touting is correct then get ready to get rid of Social Security and Medicare because the big, bad government forces you to pay into it.

5. If we do nothing the deficit will rise 143 billion dollars more over the next 10 years than if we have the Health Care Reform Act according to the CBO. Health Care Reform costs less than we will pay if we do nothing. The total cost of the Health Reform Act is the same as the cost of Part D over the next 10 years and closes the doughnut hole.

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/113xx/doc11379/Manager’sAmendmenttoReconciliationProposal.pdf

I don’t know how to get through these rationalizations and justifications based on pure fantasy but I will tell you that your blindness conveniently keeps you from seeing your selfishness, greediness and the violence you are doing to others that do not have your government benefits. How does it feel to be a hypocrite?