Angry U.S. citizens

I’m madder than a wet cat. I paid Social Security for 48 years, and now I need Medicare because my health is failing. Now the U.S. government wants to take away my money.

The government already took part of my Social Security for the windfall rule. The government collected a lot of taxes from my paychecks. Now it wants my pitiful retirement income, and further wants to wipe out Medicare.

How can we, the old and disabled, afford health insurance? I paid Medicare taxes for 48 years. This government has implemented many wasteful ways to spend all of our tax dollars, to line the pockets of wealthy corporations, and put this nation in the red, with programs and spending that give benefits to a small select population of the wealthy, not the massive working class.

One of my doctors told me he wasn’t going to see Medicare patients anymore, because Medicare pays $33 for an office visit, and they are cutting that. He wasn’t the first to tell me this information.

One of my former employers notified me they were going bankrupt and would discontinue the small amount they have been sending.

Barbara Hopkins
Kansas City

Comments

[Steven Klein]

Jim50 -Under some scenarios you may also soon get the government out of your retirement medical care. Hope that works out ok.

[Jim50]

Sucks to depend on the government, doesn't it? And morons want the government to run our healthcare? These people belong in mental institutions. GET THE FRIGGIN GOVERNMENT OUT OF MY RETIREMENT PLANNING!

[pmcw]

The only health care proposals coming from either side deal with the wrong issue - how to spread the pain of high healthcare cost. The right strategy would be to figure out how to lower the cost and improve access. The problem here is when you have a gaggle of lawyers running the country they don't have a clue as to how to solve problems - all they are good at is creating pain and distributing pain.

Here's a good question - why does it cost around a half a billion dollars to get a new drug completely through the FDA and even after the FDA finally approves it, we have a line of trial lawyers anxious to sue for side affects the FDA should have had plenty of time and ability to define?

Oh well, the only good thing we are learning from all this pain is the fact government is the greater rather than the lesser evil in the public / private sector equation...

[Steven Klein]

I'm not a lying liberal. The proposed Republican alternatives to Medicare such as the Ryan plan would eliminate that program as people currently know it. It would be refreshing if they were honest enough to admit it, but I understand how difficult politically that would be. The ultimate objective of the Republican approach is to shift the costs of healthcare for seniors more directly onto the pool of people who are directly covered and lower the financial burden on the broader taxpayer base which might permit additional tax reductions. The general approach will do this by increasing the sensitivity of individual seniors to the cost of their health care by compelling them to make decisions on the level of coverage they wish or can afford and bringing free market dynamics back into the economics of senior health care.

It will be up to the American people to learn the facts, understand the proposals in detail and decide if this is what they want. Many conservatives would abolish most forms of government subsidized health care for seniors and others if they could. Their forebears including Ronald Reagan strongly opposed the passage of basic Medicare. For those people, this is the next best approach consistent with their ideological positions on the roll of government at all levels and their fears about its threats to individual liberty.

Barbara, you might pose a question to your physician: Does he plan on enrolling in Medicare when he becomes eligible?

[kem]

Barbara, Please let me help you out here. The only ones who have been talking about your medicare going away are the Democrats. Starting with Obama, they have been telling you that the Republicans want to take your medicare away. They are lying to you. No one, I repeat, no one and I repeat one more time NO ONE from the right is talking about taking your medicare away from you. The next time someone from the left tells you that, ask them to produce proof, and when they cannot, then tell them to stop scaring people by lying. The fact is, the current medicare system is unsustainable. Changes need to be made. But, the Republicans want to have those changes to only apply to those much younger than you. You do not have time to adjust to a new medicare, however, younger people do. So, please calm down and know that no Republican wants to take your medicare away. The only place you hear that is from lying liberals.

[Flash]

There are plenty of legal citizens who are working "side jobs" where they get paid cash and pay no taxes. It's not just illegals who don't pay into the system as they should - it's also your legal neighbors and the people who pay them cash to get a good deal.

[T. Hanson]

John, how about thanking the employer that is paying that illegal? Or are you just going to blame the person that did the work?

[John S]

Thank an ILLEGAL alien who is working under the table and not paying into the system.

[pmcw]

Barbara, Your elected officials lied to you and were aided by the KC Star. To read the truth about social security, please see:

www.nextinning.com/socialsecurity2.php