The WWII generation got a sweet deal from Medicare and Social Security, but those days are long gone.

My wife and I were talking about something similar just last night. Most folks who go on Medicare have never had to pay much of their health insurance over their adult lives, having received it as a tax-free benefit from their employer, so they are very surprised at how much Medicare actually costs after you throw in drug and medigap coverage. We've always paid for our health coverage via private-pay policies with Blue Cross, since we were both self-employed. Anyway, even at higher preminum levels, Medicare is still a fraction of what we used to pay. My premiums for last year with BC were $10K, with a $2.5 dedutible and a $2.5K co-insurance, plus co-pays. I spent over $17K last year just on me, what with my heart issues, and my wife spent another about $11K...for a grand total of about $28K. So, Medicare is nothing compared to that. Unfortunately, my wife still has a couple more years of BC to go, so her premiums and overall health costs will remain very high. I agree that the days of the truly sweet deal with Medicare and SS are gone, but I doubt it will cost more than BC, at least for the near term.