Medicare is not free

Each month, $104.90 is deducted from my Social Security check for a “Medicare premium.” Each year, Medicare has a deductible amount of $1,288 for “hospitalization expense.” It’s more if you go in more than once in a period. Each year, Medicare has a deductible amount of $165 for “doctors visits.” Thereafter, Medicare then pays 80 percent of the amount approved, and we must pay the 20 percent difference.

Unless we purchase “gap” insurance, and depending on the policy, what you pay depends. I am fairly healthy, so I pay $51.76 monthly for “gap” because I have a high deductible on this policy of $2,500. The deductible amount on this policy is only the 20 percent that Medicare doesn’t pay. So I pay $156.66 monthly (or $1,879.92 annually) for my insurance premiums only! My husband pays the same, so together we pay $3,759.84 annually for our medical premiums ... plus all those deductibles and my gap insurance.

Medicare is not free. I had Medicare charges taken from my paycheck long before I ever qualified for Medicare insurance. Quitcherbellyachin!

This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 8:57 PM with the headline "Medicare is not free."