Although I'm sure (almost) everyone already understands this, what you pay in taxes is unrelated to the benefits you get in return (if any - but I assume everyone gets a little something from the government, whether they want it or not, such as having an interstate system in place, etc.).
Congress sets taxes according to how much money they think they can take away from people and get away with it -- this means taking more from those who make more money, not so much because they think they can afford it, as because they are few in numbers and can't kick the legislators out of office as easily as the masses could if you taxed them more (I think it was Speaker Sam Rayburn who said "Don't tax you and don't tax me; tax the guy behind the tree"). And there are other totally random-appearing taxes that seem to have no rationale in terms of either economics or policy, and many of us end up paying some of those taxes (and fees, etc.) as well. Most of it goes into the general fund.
Then Congress spends the money the way they think they want to provided they think they can get away with it without losing re-election. This means giving money back to people who vote in large numbers (such as the elderly, via social security and medicare), and spending money in their own districts so that their consituents will re-elect them, but reducing the cost to the government by not giving quite so much to the segment of the elderly with a higher income -- again, because that segment can't kick the legislators out of office as easily as a larger segment could.
In fairness, though, remember that no matter what premium you pay, Medicare is discount health insurance from what you would pay for similar coverage (if you could get it) in the private sector -- and also remember that you can choose not to have Medicare, and get your insurance in the private sector (if you can get it, and if you can afford it), or you can pay your medical bills out of pocket, or get your medical care and refuse to pay the bills to the doctors, labs, hospitals, etc. (and hope they will continue to take care of you, and will care for you as well as those from whom they get some payment) -- but don't expect to get your medicines at the pharmacy without paying! While doctors and hospitals are constantly being reminded that they are a "business" (wasn't always that way), pharmacies are the real business, since they will turn you away if you can't pay for products or services, even if you claim it's an emergency.
--BG
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> 6a. Re: W-2G and Medicare premiums - drifiting
> off-topic X VP
> Thank you for the advice but I did exactly what you
> suggested and it so
> happens that the cheapest plans for us (in the area we
> live--northern
> Nevada--and considering our specific meds ) are the cheapest
> plans--Walmart
> and/or AARP. What is killing us here is the penalty
> imposed by Medicare on
> middle income earners. If a couple filing jointly
> makes over $170,000, they
> incur hefty penalties regardless of the fact that we've
> already paid Medicare
> taxes on that earned income.
>
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