Seniors are in danger
To the editor:
Seniors are in a dangerous position in today’s economy. Yet they are failing to respond to the dangers. It really doesn’t matter if you are on the “T” or if you are bagging at Publix. We are all losing.
The cost of living, especially health care, is rising faster than we can tolerate. We have little recourse to work with. Yet we have a government which plans to turn Medicare into a voucher system (the cost of health care will rise much faster if that happens), and turn Medicaid into a block grant to state. They also have big plans for Social Security, like elimination. Where do you think we will end up when our money runs out? Probably in a boarding house.
I strongly urge you to support your local Eldercare Foundation. Perhaps someone will remember you when you are left in a boarding house sitting catching flies.
There was a provision for long-term care in the ACA (Obamacare). This was eliminated. That should not have happened. Some version should be replaced. Currently long-term care facilities can’t survive on Medicaid reimbursement, they therefore decrease care to Medicaid long-term care recipients.
Those of us who can afford a long-term care insurance policy realize that the premiums are increasing rapidly and soon will become unaffordable (unless you are rich). Some provision should have been made to help with long-term care insurance premiums. If our country can afford to support Health Care Savings Accounts, it should be able to support for long-term care insurance.
Yes, there are those who recommend a single payer health care system based on Medicare. Would you really want the government having the power to make life and death decisions on health care? The current Medicare system exhausts our Congress’s ability to manage. No, we need something else, not a Medicare system.
Lewis Robinson
Fort Myers