It's more complicated than that because the money pays for things - the medical industry receives enormous sums of money from Medicare, and no doubt a significant amount of the consumer products business comes from those social security checks.
Ok. First off, I'd like to see some proof of your second statement there. Because I'm calling BS on that one.
Now, to address your first statement. It's true that the medical industry receives millions in Medicare payments. But other than a small minority, most healthcare providers actually LOSE MONEY on Medicare patients. Because the government sets the reimbursement rate for the services provided, completely ignoring what it actually costs to provide said services. The vast majority of providers that I have spoken to would stop taking Medicare patients in a heartbeat if they could. And those that can already have. Let's take my industry as an example. The reimbursement rate for a 911 ambulance transport from Medicare is at best $300 - $400, and usually less in urban areas. Ours is closer to $200. Oh, and we are prohibited by law from charging the balance to the patient. Medicaid is actually even worse. If we ran only Medicare or Medicaid patients, we'd be out of business. Instead, to stay in business, we have to charge a higher rate to patients with other insurance, or even no insurance in order to subsidize Medicare and Medicaid patients. Except, whoopsie, our rates are capped by the contracts we sign with the municipalities in which we operate as the 911 service provider. I work for one of, if not the, largest private ambulance services in the country. And we are laying people off because we are losing so much money on Medicare and Medicaid patients.
So don't give me that bushwa that healthcare is making money on Medicare.