Underpaid 83-Year-Old Professor Died Trying to Make Ends Meet by Working Night Shift at Eat an' Save

[Divernan]

120. Weren't "non-profits" like Duquesne exempt from participatinag in Soc. Sec. until 1975?

I agree, we don't have her life employment history. I do know that she was never married. And I know she was born in 1930 - Few women born in 1930 went to college. If they did, it was with the idea to get their MRS. degree, and they majored in genteel subjects in the liberal arts - maybe nursing, or "domestic science", i.e., home economics, i.e, with very low earning potential. There was NO career counseling. She was 16 at the end of WW II - in which over 300,000 American men were killed (reducing marriage prospects for women by that number) and hundreds of thousand of returning vets took back well paying jobs women had filled during the war. Buh-bye, Rosie the Riveter, hello Lilly Ledbetter/Mad Men.

I suspect you are so young you don't have actual experience with how Medicare works - what it covers and what it doesn't; what it doesn't; that people have to enroll in it and pay a monthly premium of $104 for Part B -I'll put all that in at the end of this post.

The average social security right now is a little over $1200 a month, minus about $104 a month for Medicare Part B. THAT'S the AVERAGE. For every retired professional engineer/business exec taking home $2500 a month in Soc. Sec., there are others, especially older recipients receiving just a few hundred a month. I had occasion to work with widows of police and firemen (some of whom had died in the line of duty) who were in their 70's & 80's, and they were trying to survive on under $500 a month. They only got by through the charity of family members.

Medicare only pays 80 percent of medical bills (and NOT hearing aids, eyeglasses, dental work). This women had recently suffered a RECURRENCE of cancer. I think we all know that fees for cancer treatments easily run into a hundred thousand dollars or more.


Medicare Part A

Part A is your hospital coverage.

Premium costs. If you or your spouse worked for at least 10 years and paid Medicare taxes, you won't pay any monthly fee, called a premium, for Part A. Most people don’t pay a premium.

If you or your spouse paid Medicare taxes for less than 10 years total, you will have to pay a monthly fee for Part A coverage. In 2013, the cost was as much as $441 a month.

Deductible costs. If you stay overnight in the hospital or use other Part A services, you'll pay a deductible. The deductible is the amount you must pay before Medicare pays anything for your care.

For 2013, the deductible for a hospital stay is $1,184.

Copay costs. You also pay copays for Part A. It's a set amount you pay for specific types of care. If you're in the hospital for more than 60 days, your copay is $296 a day for days 61 to 90. After that, your copay is $592 a day.

Medicare Part B

Part B is for your doctor visits, tests, and other services.

Premium costs: Each month you pay a premium of $104.90. If your income is higher than $85,000, you have to pay a higher premium. How much you make determines how much you pay, ranging from $146.90 to $335.70.

Deductible costs: You also pay a $147 deductible each year. After you pay it, you pay coinsurance, which is 20% of your medical costs.

Penalties: If you don't sign up for Part B when you first become eligible, you may have to pay a penalty if you did not have health insurance through an employer or union.

Medicare Part D

Part D is your prescription drug coverage.

Premium costs. The monthly fee you pay varies by the plan you choose. The average premium for the last 3 years has been $30, and in 2014, it's predicted the average will be $31. If you have a higher income, you may pay more each month. In 2013, households with income of more than $170,000 or individuals with income greater than $85,000 will pay between $11.60 and $66.60 more per month.

Deductible costs: Each year you pay a deductible before Medicare starts sharing the cost for your medicines. Although the deductible may vary from plan to plan, no plan may charge more than $325 in 2013. In 2014, the maximum will be $310.