Ungrateful Greedy Geezers

in place the entire 58-year history of the program.)

And for a long time, it had been argued that senior citizens should pick up more of the tab for their Medicare Part B coverage. So, back in the mid 2000s, President George W. Bush and Congress ironed out a deal. They decided that most seniors would still only pay the 25% premium rate, but that wealthy seniors should pay a higher percentage. I’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty of the premium rates for wealthy people, but I’m pretty sure someone with your seven-figure income will pay about $400 per month for Part B coverage.

UGG: Well, I still think it’s too much and the government is ripping me off. And by the way, I don’t like your references to me and the gravy train. That’s quite a stretch coming from a guy who is a retired federal employee with free health care coverage!

ME: It will surprise you to learn that the supposedly “free” health care coverage I get as a retired fed costs me about $525 per month! Anyway, if you’re bound and determined to fight this Part B premium increase, you can file an appeal. Just do a Google search for the pamphlet called, “What you can do if you think your Medicare income-related premium is incorrect.”

And then there was this email exchange with another ungrateful greedy geezer. Although in this guy’s case, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is uninformed rather than ungrateful. He was asking questions about benefits for his wife, so I’ll call him the “Uninformed Greedy Husband,” or UGH.

UGH: I am 68 and get Social Security retirement benefits. My wife is 66 and spent most of her career as a teacher in Texas, which means she never paid into Social Security. So, she gets a teacher’s retirement pension in lieu of Social Security. I was shocked to recently learn that if I die first (which is likely), my wife will not be eligible for any widow’s benefits on my record whereas all other women in this country can get their husband’s Social Security after his death. It’s called the Government Pension Offset. I know there are bills in Congress to repeal this unfair law, but my guess is Congress will just keep handing out unwarranted benefits to deadbeats on disability and illegal immigrants and do nothing for hard-working people like me and my wife!

ME: People living in the country illegally cannot get Social Security benefits. And almost everyone getting a Social Security disability benefit has a severe mental or physical condition that keeps him or her from working. Also, “all other women” do not necessarily get widow’s benefits. So, it may surprise you to learn that you are the one clamoring for “unwarranted” Social Security benefits.

The GPO law says that an amount equal to two thirds of your wife’s teacher’s pension must be deducted from any widow’s benefits she might be due. Let’s say you get $3,000 from Social Security. And to keep things simple, I’ll say your wife is getting $3,000 per month in a teacher’s pension. If you die, two-thirds of $3,000, or $2,000, must be deducted from her widow’s benefits. So, she will get $1,000 in Social Security widow’s benefits as well as her $3,000 teacher’s pension.

Now compare that to another couple where both husband and wife paid into Social Security. For comparison purpos- es, let’s say they are each getting $3,000 in Social Security retirement benefits. If that husband dies, his wife won’t get a nickel in widow’s benefits because her entire Social Security retirement benefit is used to offset any widow’s benefits.

As a teacher, your wife already has a great deal, because she only has a twothirds offset whereas Social Security recipients have a 100% offset. And you want Congress to repeal the GPO law so that your wife would get both a $3,000 teacher’s pension AND a $3,000 widow’s pension -- something no other woman in this country can get. I hope you see what

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