About 5% of the population accounts for nearly half of total health spending, and many of these are older adults with multiple conditions.
Do seniors (65+) pay as much as perceived for health care?
Seniors pay a lot for health care, but it is not that simple. Many, perhaps most, seniors pay no more, even less, out of pocket, than many younger families. 
The bulk of spending by seniors is premiums, not the actual cost of care.

Some people’s recent experience with the Social Security and Medicare sign-up process has been smooth. Mine for Medicare? Not so much.
I turned 65 in November 2024 and wanted Medicare Part B to start January 1, 2025. Medicare.gov says that if you apply in the month after your birthday, Part B will start the following month. Perfect! I filed for Medicare on the Social Security site on December 2nd and even included a note that I wanted Part B coverage to start January 1.

Are doctors overpaid?
That’s a tricky question for several reasons. Getting good data is hard and mostly based on surveys, there are variations across the country and among specialists plus few doctors work a 40 hour week. 
If you are a patient and your doctor provides life saving care, I suspect what they earn doesn’t matter, it wouldn’t to me. In any case, chances are you aren’t paying the bill yourself. 
After looking at the data from several sources,

Let’s say you have $50, $100, $200 and $500. 
I’m quite certain from time to time the average American would find spending those amounts affordable – on say a manicure, a round of golf, a tattoo, a couples night on the town or even attending a sporting event. For many people this would be true even if they charged the expense. 
It’s quite natural we receive pleasure from spending money, depending on what it is spent on.

Key Medicare benefits are being stripped away, and patient care is being handed over to profit-driven corporations.

On June 25, 2025, in an unprecedented move, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced that Original Medicare will now require prior authorization for a list of 17 services.
This marks a major shift—and a serious rollback of a key protection retirees have relied on for decades.
What’s Changing?

Chris tripped and fell a few Sundays back. Her radius and ulna bones broke and the elbow was beyond repair. We were on a little day trip, to visit the Cleveland Aquarium. 
Come the next day, the anticipated 2-3 hour surgery stretched to 7 hours. Afterwards, the surgeon, allegedly among the finest in the country for this particular procedure, reported good results. However, coming out of the long anesthesia, Chris had difficulty communicating, so was quickly rushed down the hall for an MRI.