- quote -

I dont they've are worked out the details yet.
Its phased-in over several several years, not really noticeable
until the current president leaves office.
But watch out by 2020!

rick

Looking over some tables on the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) site,
I noticed some macro numbers

Table 3.6 - Contributions to "Hospital insurance" total $162.2 billion
Table 3.12 - Transfers to persons for "Hospital and supplementary
medical insurance" total $647.7 billion

I added lines from each table to come up with totals that include both
federal and state accounts. I am not sure that the lines as presented
cover exactly the same accounts. But assuming there is some direct
relationship intended, in presenting the numbers the way they do, there
is a large deficit there between what is taken in and what is paid out.
(About $485.5 billion.)

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics tables, the top two quintiles
of "consumer units" begin to fall into the $80,000 dollar and above
income range. So let's say hypothetically 40% pay 3 times more (per the
2003 Medicare Drug Act provision you cite) = about $90 billion added to
the $162 billion. There is still a deficit of $395 billion.

rick++ wrote:
- quote -

Would money coming from a Roth IRA be part of the $80,000? Roth is
exempt from taxes, but it is exempt from income calculations for this
purpose?

A little publicized feature of the 2003 Medicare Drug Act is in a
few years medicare premiums will be allowed to grow 300%
for "well-off" seniors. (Technically the government pays
75% of a so-called monthly premium, and this subsidy would be
eliminated.) This change was intended to help pay for the
new drug part of medicare.
Well-off is defind as over $80,000 a year, a number specifically
exempted from
COLA indexing. That sounds like a generous number now, but
this will be the median national income in the late 2010s at the rate
income is increasing. People with deferred retirement accounts are
forced to
withdraw a minimum each year, when combined with SS and other income
could very well be paying extra medicare in the not too distant future.

In 2006 the subsized medicare premium is $89 a month and non-subsidized
$354 a month. This is a 50% increase since 2003. If these rates of
increase
keep up, along with the phase-out of the subsidy, seniors will be
looking at
very substantial monthly medicare premiums. And you thought your
health
insurance problems would be solved qualifying for medicare :-)