According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, the average income for people ages 65 and older in 2008 was $29,214.
Traditional Medicare is already a significant financial burden for most of these retired people. Premiums for Parts A, B, Medigap, and Part D drugs will be $7-9K per year for a couple, depending on how old you are and where you live. This is a significant cost for the typical retired couple even before you take into account extra expenses for drugs due to the donut hole, etc.
The Ryan plan for voucherizing Medicare would likely push these costs into an unacceptable range, forcing seniors to slash expenses elsewhere.
Just what additional costs the voucherized Ryan program will impose on the retired is not yet clear. One estimate I have heard is that Ryan program would require an out of pocket expense of $6400 on average, taking into account the premium support (reported on CBS News website).
So, we now jump to $12,800 per couple, and when you consider typical unreimbursed
expenses, a yearly outlay of $15,000 per couple seems likely. This is more than 25% of the typical retirement income. It is a burden that the average retired household could not bear, and one that no civilized society would require of them.