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Social Security and Medicare are about 1.3 trillion a year and any system that replaced Social Security and Medicare will be a system that is much less generous
by cpleppert 13y ago
Social Security and Medicare are about 1.3 trillion a year and any system that replaced Social Security and Medicare will be a system that is much less generous to the elderly. A basic income will essentially reduce the monthly check from 1100 to about 670 with no health benefits at all. There is no way to get around the fact that this will cause a massive increase in elderly poverty.
- hannibalhorn 13y agoI live where $10/day is considered a decent wage, so $670/month sounds pretty good. If one spends their working years paying for a house and saving for discretionary expenses, with the knowledge that food and utilities will be covered by the basic income, it'd be much more than adequate. The real problem is that many of the more adventurous types would just go live in India! Health care is a politically charged issue, so I'd say replace social security but leave medicare out of it. Obviously something fair would have to be worked out for people who have already paid into the system with an expectation of benefits much higher than $500/month..