Health insurance, particularly Medicare, was added in 1966 to provide hospital insurance to almost everyone age sixty-five and older.
Funding of the Social Security system is provide by equal contributions from the employer and employee under terms of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). Initially, employee and employer each paid 1 percent of the employee's income up to $3,000 in 1995, each paid 6.2 percent of the first $60,600 of the employee's income (for retirement and disability)and 1.45 percent of the total income (for hospital insurance through Medicare).
The average annual Social in 1995 were around $900 a month for a person who retired in 1988. Retired people age sixty-five to sixty-nine can also earn about $11.000 annually without sacrificing benefits; beneficiaries under age sixty-five can earn about $8,000