US Medicare out-of-pocket payments

US Medicare recipients now pay an average of $3,142 a year for servicesnot covered by the program, including prescription drugs, and if no changes are made to the system, this will rise to $5,248 by 2025, estimates the Urban Institute, a Washington-based research group. The average proportion of their income which beneficiaries would pay out of their own pocket would thus rise from one-fifth to one-third, it says, estimating that the Medicare population will grow from about 40 million to 70 million over the period.