Are non working spouses entitled to Medicare?

[question everything]

Payroll taxes - Social Security and Medicare - are paid when there is earned income. For employees, it is split between employer and employee. For self employed - they pay the whole amount but can adjust their gross income with half the tax.

And widows and widowers are entitled to social security survivor benefits.

So I am curious about Medicare.

[Liberal In Texas]

1. You go on Medicare when youi turn 65.

Matters not if you work or even never have.

[question everything]

4. Thanks

[choie]

12. Just a caveat

if you haven't paid into Medicare by working at least 40 quarters (10 years) you may have to pay a monthly premium for Medicare Part A (hospitalization) as well as Part B.

[WillowTree]

23. Correction: You're *eligible* for Medicare when you turn 65.

Because I chose to continue to work for a large corporation that provided excellent medical benefits, I chose the option to stay on their plan for the duration and only went on Medicare when I finally retired.

[csziggy]

2. Yes - I get Medicare on my husband's experience

As well as small Social Security payments. While I ran our farm for decades, I never drew a salary out of the business and didn't pay SS or Medicare so I don't have enough quarters of employment to get either on my own. My husband did so I'm riding on his dime.

[question everything]

5. Thanks. Interesting. Because we say that Social Security benefits are

"our money." Not exactly accurate, since we end up getting more than we contributed. And which is why I don't mind paying taxes on these benefits.

[Hortensis]

15. Remember, money has time value -- HUGE time value.

A dollar paid into Social Security 30 years ago would be worth far more now if well invested. Those who pay in over most of their working lives certainly do not get far more out than we paid in when considering lost appreciation.

The payoff, of course, is that the government program will be there for us no matter what, which very much can't be said for private investments. Millions rendered destitute by forces beyond their control, including failed banks, insurers and pensions, are the reason we created government-guaranteed retirement programs. And that was back when our population was far less than half what it is now and most lived at least somewhat more self-sustainable lives.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. Good Call!

It's actually a weak investment, as investing goes, but it does provide a margin of safety, hence the term "safety net".

I'm taking SocSec early because family history suggests that's wise using TVM as a basis.

I'm making the max, less the early take penalty and I'll make about what I paid in in roughly 4.5 years, but as you said, some of those $ paid in was 43 years ago.

Using large market returns as the discount rate, those oldest $ would be worth around 14 bucks a piece. So, smoothed out TVM I have to live to be 87 to start getting more than I paid in, vs TVM.

I know we could use cost of living as the discount rate and that would dramatically change the values, so it really depends on the rate.

[Drahthaardogs]

22. It depends

Some will pay more than they receive some will pay less. It's a pool.

[dflprincess]

3. Yes a non-working spouse may collect on their spouse's account

My mom collected her Social Security & Medicare on my dad's account. Even though Mom had worked after Dad died, she was still better off collecting on his account rather than her own. Though Mom's income was so low she also qualified for MSHO (Minnesota Senior Health Options). It's a program for low income seniors that combines Medicare with Medicaid and is fantastic coverage (even covers hearing aids). Whenever I hear "Medicare for All", I think "No, we need MSHO for all."

[question everything]

6. Interesting. I hope that this program still exists

I am sure that the Republicans would have loved to gut it.

[dflprincess]

10. It is strictly a Minnesota program

and I know it's still exists as of now.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. As well they should be.

However, I'll say that I can be driven a bit crazy by those who chose not to pay FICA and therefore are not eligible for Social Security who now are quite upset about that.

I am not at all bothered by the spousal thing. If that works for you, great. In my case, the spousal thing has been wonderful. When I turned 66, and my ex turned 62 a couple of months before, and because we'd been married for more than 10 years, now divorced for more than 2 years, I was able to start collecting a spousal benefit, equal to half of what his would be at age 66. And for all who think that's not right, I'd like to point out that I stayed home for some 25 years, raising our two children, and making it possible for him to have the career he had. I earned it.

When I turned 70, last August, I started collecting my own SS, which is about $500 more than the spousal amount.

My Medicare is my own. Since I did work more than enough to qualify, I've never paid attention to spousal Medicare. But of course spouses, even those who never worked, should get it. Good grief! Do you think that people should be left to die in the street?

[question everything]

9. I did not know that one can choose not to pay FICA

any more that one can choose not to pay income tax (as much as many want to..)

The way I look at it - perhaps the wrong way - say two employees, one married the other not, earn the same amount of money - say $50K. FICA tax is $7.65% for the employee (and for the employer) equals $3825 a year. They both earned the same amount of money throughout their working years.

For the married one, this amount will support two people while for the unmarried - only himself.

So I wonder whether the married one should contribute more, whether the benefits that the married couple collects is twice that of the unmarried, even though they paid the same amount to the system.

And, no, this is not "our money" since we paid for the older generations and now it is the younger ones who pay. Just curious about how the calculations go.

And, no, of course no one should be left to die - young or old. This has been the cause of the ACA, of course, But if we pay into the system, and most of us want to lift the cap, I find it strange that some get more.

I guess my next question would be: we still pay for Medicare. This year it is $135 which is deducted from Social Security benefits. Does a married couple, then, pay twice as much?

[marybourg]

11. One can choose not to pay fica by working

“under the table”, that is, for cash, without any reporting by employer or employee. Not only is this illegal, but it deprives the employee of medicare, s.s., unemployment insurance and s.s. disability. It’s foolish and short-sighted, but many people think they’re fooling the government by doing this. They’re actually only fooling themselves.

[TexasBushwhacker]

20. Yup. I met a ranch hand who worked for cash for decades

Never paid a dime in FICA or income tax. Then his employer died and he injured his back. So he had no job, no insurance, and a wrecked body in his early 50s. He could possibly qualify for SSI and Medicaid, but until he got them he was homeless, disabled and unemployable. I've known women working as housecleaners under similar circumstances and warned them.

[question everything]

27. I don't suppose all the undocumented people working for Trump's golf retreat

have had any funds invested for retirement. Yea, right.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. What marybourg said.

A lot of people choose to work "under the table" and then are surprised, just surprised that when they go to collect Social Security there's not very much there for them.

You seem to understand that SS is a pay as you go system, meaning current workers pay for those retired.

The whole thing about married couples is complicated, and I can't pretend to know a solution. I do recall when widows of workers got almost nothing. Back when married women simply did not work outside the household.

Not sure what you mean by "we still pay for Medicare. This year it is $135 which is deducted from Social Security benefits." Yes, you do pay into Medicare. And it doesn't cover everything, which you need to understand.

Medicare is something workers have been paying into since 1966. I know, because I first starting working in 1965, before Medicare. The Medicare deduction you are talking about is what is taken out from your Social Security. Each retired worker pays his or her own amount into Medicare. There's no benefit to being a married couple. Get over it.

[question everything]

28. I suppose this is about the "Medicare for all" call these days

It is important to remember that we have been paying into Medicare and we still do. No, not as much as private insurance, including the one provided by employers, but it is not exactly "free."

[pnwmom]

16. I think the idea is that society places a value on a parent being able to stay home

and take care of their children, without worrying that that would prevent them from having healthcare once they were retired.

And children are important to society as a whole, not just to their own parents.

[question everything]

29. Of course we do. As we should

I just wonder, to continue with my examples. If these two employees have contributed the same amount to Social Security and for Medicare and, therefore, their benefits should be identical, as they is based on their income.

But if the a married employee is now getting more benefits, to cover both himself and his spouse, then we are having some imbalance. I think that a married employee should contribute more, to cover his spouse.

But perhaps I am missing the calculations. At some point it will have to be decided which spouse, it there was more than one..

[pnwmom]

31. We were using the Medicare law in part to recognize the value of marriage and children,

so that a woman (or man) who stayed home with children was recognized as making her own contribution to the economy, even if she didn't earn a paycheck.

[MaryMagdaline]

8. I totally support Medicare and Social Security for all people

It has been a huge pet peeve of mine to listen to older women complain about poor women and minorities getting childcare assistance and housing assistance since this country pretty much subsidized the older women’s childcare by giving them their husband’s social security in case they didn’t pay in enough. A retired housewife gets her husband’s social security, regardless of whether she’s ever paid a dime into social security. I watch my older aunts vote republican and bash immigrants, women who work as CNAs and waitresses, who are in fact paying for the older women to be taken care of in their old age. As with everything else in this country, there are two tiers of benefits ... if you were lucky enough to marry well and young, you benefit much more than single and poor mothers.

PS I am a widow, in good health and thank god did not need husband’s social security. I’m lucky I’m in good health and an office worker so I am able to work at least until 65. My single mother friends will never even get a choice, while earning 70% of what men earn.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. I'm a divorced spouse.

I stayed home some 25 years to raise our two children and to enable my ex to have his career. When I turned 66, my full retirement age, I was able to start collecting on his account, and delay my own SS to age 70. For which I am very grateful.

[MrsCoffee]

24. Many of those non working older women raised those CNAs and waitresses.

Regardless of their political affiliation, many of them contributed the majority of their time, blood, sweat and tears to one of the most important, most stressful unpaid jobs in the world.

When tech jobs were sent overseas, my husband and I had to find new careers which meant more school and certifications. We had to go on unemployment with four kids. We made the decision together that I would concentrate on holding down the fort at home while we paid for his education.

I worked enough to collect my own social security and Medicare. But it’s not going to be much. I invested everything in my family so my husband could get the dream job. Now I’m almost 60 and the last of my children have moved out. My body is broken and fighting against me. But I will be able to collect on my husband’s social security earnings.

Sure, it sucks that some of the older women who use the safety net are bigoted Republicans, but it doesn’t suck that there is such a safety net in place for those older women.. (By the way, this also works in reverse for stay at home husbands and dads when the wife works)

[MaryMagdaline]

25. It is a good system. Needs to be shored up with social security

Tax on full earnings and even on passive income. As I said, I didn’t need the widow’s benefits but that is nothing but razor-thin luck. (We did, however, need my husband’s disability when he was sick. The Medicare was a godsend. He also benefited from a SS check as a child when his mother died. This check gave him extra spending money which lasted through college. I’ve often thought that was one of the reasons he was able to put himself through college).

[MrsCoffee]

26. I agree.

It does need to be shored up.

I would just love to see any kind of progress to a universal healthcare system that won’t devastate a person or family financially.

[mnhtnbb]

17. I was recently widowed

by the suicide of my husband while we were separated but not divorced. We had been married for 33 years. I had worked long enough before our marriage to collect SS on my own, but devoted myself to raising two children and making it possible for him to devote himself to his psychiatric practice and community involvement during our marriage.I was collecting SS on my own record and he was collecting on his at the time of his death. We were both on Medicare and our supplemental policy was provided through his VA pension.

I applied for widow's benefits on his SS after his death. It took less than a week after my in person interview at SS for them to pay the back 2 months Widow's beneft to my account. I will be getting a payment from now on that represents my benefit plus an additional amount that comes up to the level of what my husband's monthly benefit was.

I have also applied for the survivors benefit as his widow on his VA pension. I think that will be 55% of his benefit, with the continuation of the supplemental health care policy. I haven't had a formal notice of approval from OPM yet, but I've talked to someone asking for an update on my application and I've been told it should be approved this month.

Both those benefits are going to make a huge difference in being able to support a comfortable retirement for me. I will be 68 this month and my husband was 76 when he died.

[question everything]

30. I am so sorry for your loss. And am glad that you have successfuly navigated

all the avenues.

As mentioned above - this is why it is called "safety net."

[BSdetect]

19. I was told I could not get Medicare because I had no employment history in the USA

My wife is the wage earner and I raised the three kids (with her massive help).

Seems if I try going to the local Soc Sec office they may be able to help.

[TexasBushwhacker]

21. If she paid into Medicare, you'll only have to pay for Part B

which most people pay as a deduction from their Social Security benefit. If your spouse paid into a health plan other than Medicare, you will have to buy the Part A part of Medicare too. My aunt and uncle were educators and paid into the teacher retirement and healthcare system rather than Social Security and Medicare. But over the years he purposely worked enough quarters in the private sector, paying into SS and Medicare, that they qualified for Medicare when they retired. Now that he's deceased, she has to pay a little for Part A, but not as much as if he had never worked those second jobs.

If you are low income you may qualify for Medicaid as well.