The problem is that you haven't paid enough for the benefits you receive. Did you know that by law, the premiums you pay for Medicare Parts B and D only pay for 25% of the costs? The rest--75%--comes from the General Fund. In 2011 the GF ponied up $222 billion to pay for Medicare Parts B and D. And the Medicare Trust Fund (Part A) has been running in the red since 2008.
This graph shows that the average man and woman (average defined in the study as average income over their working lives and living to the average life expectancy) who start receiving benefits in 2010 get over 3 times more in benefits than they pay in to the system! Of importance, the study accounts for inflation by calculating all past taxes and future payments in 2010 dollars to provide an accurate comparison.
If the notion that Medicare recipients are simply "getting back what they paid in" is false then where is the money coming from? Simply, the excess received is being borrowed from younger generations and the cost is more than we can bear.
Every time I hear that Social Security and Medicare are "entitlements", listed right along with Medicaid, food stamps, TANF, SSI, ad nauseum, I want to puke.
I want to puke every time I hear someone say they have paid for their Medicare and SS benefits. The Dems have brainwashed the public that somehow these benefits are paid for. Nothing could be further from the truth. These programs are unsustainable and the benefits are being paid for by increasing our debt and borrowing. 42 cents of every federal dollar spent is borrowed, and that includes the so called entitlement programs.