MEDICARE A retired couple can easily spend and be taxed more for their health care than what it costs an employer to provide health insurance for one worker and a spouse.
One couple — a husband and wife who both worked as professionals and delayed retirement past age 70 — will spend about $21,100 out of pocket this year under Medicare, before counting co-pays.
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For starters, the Medicare Part B premium for all retirees is deducted from Social Security checks. The cost this year is $2,652 for a married couple, up almost 17 percent from the $2,270 cost last year. Congress makes higher-income couples pay an extra premium if their income is more than $170,000. This couple’s extra charge this year is $5,834.
The retired executive and his wife then pay more than $3,300 for a Medicare supplement, ....
Then there is the Medicare Part D drug plan, with its so-called doughnut hole. The plan covers some drugs, then makes people pay a large amount (the hole) and then picks up all drug costs. The executive and his wife said that they would spend the $9,000 maximum this year.
All that comes to about $21,100 for the year, in addition to deductibles and co-pays for medical care and lab tests.