By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    photo of hands with blue veins
    8 Proven Tips on Finding Difficult Veins
    November 12, 2021
    tips for getting over the pandemic blues
    4 Proven Ways to Get Over the Pandemic Blues
    February 22, 2022
    medical industry innovations
    How is CNC Machining Transforming the Medical Industry?
    June 2, 2022
    Latest News
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    July 31, 2025
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    comparative negligence
    Not Knowing About Comparative Negligence Can Worsen Your Medical Debt
    April 12, 2023
    racial disparities in healthcare
    Why We Need to Address Racial Disparities in Maternal Health Care
    August 26, 2021
    Enhancing Pharmaceutical Patient Compliance & Drug Efficacy
    February 12, 2024
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: If Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme, What is the Medicare Part D Drug Benefit?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > If Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme, What is the Medicare Part D Drug Benefit?
Policy & Law

If Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme, What is the Medicare Part D Drug Benefit?

DavidEWilliams
DavidEWilliams
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

The wild attacks on Social Security by Republican presidential candidates including Rick Perry’s famous characterization of the program as “a Ponzi scheme” are amusing, but are a serious distraction from the real fiscal issues facing the country.

The wild attacks on Social Security by Republican presidential candidates including Rick Perry’s famous characterization of the program as “a Ponzi scheme” are amusing, but are a serious distraction from the real fiscal issues facing the country. Rather than attacking a fundamentally sound 75 year old program with a specified revenue stream, it would be a lot more honest to admit that a Republican Congress and President were responsible for a much more recent and reckless expansion of Federal spending in the form of the Medicare Part D drug benefit.

As explained by the North American Securities Administrators Association:

“The Ponzi scam amounts to little more than robbing an army of Peters to pay a handful of Pauls. As the number of initial investors (the Pauls) grows and the supply of potential new investors (the Peters) dwindles, the Ponzi bubble bursts under the pressure of meeting the promised returns.  While some initial payments are made to drum up new recruits, the vast majority of investors in a Ponzi scheme end up losing all or most of their money.  As in the case of simple pyramid recruitment frauds, a point is inevitably reached where the con man simply cannot keep up with the required payments.”

More Read

Product target calculation
Measure What You Manage, With Caveats: Thoughts on Surgeon Ratings
Busan is in the air: GAVI gets in front
A Nurse’s Letter to the Interns
A New Way To Improve Primary Care Yet Reduce Total Costs
Paul Krugman: Stop Being an Embarrassment to the Profession

So Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme at all. It doesn’t promise amazing, rapidly compounding returns on investment. It doesn’t depend on drumming up new investors. Instead, it’s a pay as you go system that mainly taxes today’s workers to pay today’s retirees (that’s where 82 percent of funding comes from). If nothing’s done to rejigger the system, Social Security can still pay out 75 percent of what’s expected even once the so-called “trust fund” is extinguished. Modest adjustments have been made in the past and can be done again: some combination of raising the retirement age, increasing the maximum income on which Social Security taxes are levied, and adjusting benefit levels are enough to keep the program solvent essentially forever. Becoming more open to immigration would also improve the prospects for Social Security by bringing in younger workers. But trying telling that to the Republican candidates!

What about the Medicare Part D drug benefit? Unlike Social Security, there is no dedicated funding stream at all for this $62 billion per year program. And when it was passed there was no provision to make it revenue neutral; the cost went straight to the deficit. Today 83 percent of Part D is funded through “general revenues,” 11 percent through beneficiary premiums and six percent through state payments. Part D is not a Ponzi scheme, but it’s a redistribution of wealth from taxpayers as a whole to senior citizens and pharmaceutical companies.

I’d like to hear the candidates explain why Part D should stay and Social Security should go. Personally, I can’t see the logic of it.


TAGGED:Medicare Part Dpharmaceuticals
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
Health
July 31, 2025
holistic dental
Holistic Dentist Services Are Natural and Safe
Dental health Specialties
July 28, 2025
botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025
Telemedicine Apps
Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
Health
July 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Policy & LawPublic Health

Why People Suffering from Chronic Pain Should Move to States that Legalized CBD

December 31, 2018
apple.jpg
Medical EducationWellness

Why Medical Marketers Should Use Patient Education as a Strategic Advantage

July 5, 2016

Can Long-Term Physician-Patient Relationships Be Bad For Your Health?

April 23, 2012

A Theory on Why The FDA Hid Conflicts of Interest

January 15, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?