OP-ED | Seniors’ Message to Congress: We’re Not Pushovers
by Laura
J. Green | Oct 24, 2011 10:43am
http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php/archives/entry/op-ed_seniors_message_to_congress_were_not_pushovers/
Hundreds of AARP members and volunteers headed to Washington, D.C.
on October 12 to tell their Congressional representatives: “Seniors
aren’t numbers. We aren’t line items in a budget. And we’re definitely not
pushovers.”
Thousands
more have been making phone calls into their representatives
offices to reiterate the message that cuts to Medicare and Social Security
should be off the table as the 12-member congressional “supercommittee”
considers ways to reduce the national deficit by at least $1.2 trillion over 10
years. Seniors are understandably upset because many of the proposals being
considered behind closed doors would shift health care costs onto us, threaten
our access to doctors, or reduce the Social Security benefits we rely on to pay
our bills. For example:
Cutting Social Security by $112 billion, which could cost
seniors thousands of dollars over their lifetime.
Raising the
Medicare eligibility age, which would:
—Cut benefits
for younger retirees
—Increase
out-of-pocket spending for 65 and 66-year-olds by an average of $2,000 per year
– when many are already struggling to make ends meet.
—Increase
premiums for people already on Medicare because it would leave older, more costly
people in the system.
—Increase
health care costs for businesses because workers would stay on employer plans
longer.
If Congress
is really concerned about numbers, they should consider that more than 562,000 Connecticut residents
rely on Medicare and more than 611,000 rely on Social Security to help pay
bills each month. Those are the numbers of people who could be harmed if
Congress makes these cuts.
Contrary to
what many people may think, Medicare is not free for seniors. According to
recent national data, Medicare beneficiaries already spend a median of $3,103 a
year of their own money on health care. Ten percent of beneficiaries—more than
4 million people—spend more than $8,300 a year. The oldest and poorest
beneficiaries already spend about one-quarter of their incomes on health care.
Since
August, AARP has heard from millions of our members, including many right here
in Connecticut,
who have shared their stories with us about the impact that cuts to Social
Security and Medicare would have on them personally. Many are afraid of losing
their homes if they could no longer afford their rent or mortgage, while others
would have to make dangerous choices between putting food
on the table and paying for prescription medications. Like millions of seniors
living on fixed incomes, these folks are already finding it hard to make ends
meet in today’s economy. In Connecticut,
nearly 33 percent of seniors over age 65 are kept out of poverty because of
Social Security. About 49 percent of Connecticut
residents over the age of 65 rely on Social Security for at least half of their
monthly income, while 17 percent rely on it for 90 percent or more of their
income. For them, and millions more like them across the country, any
further reduction in benefits – benefits that they’ve worked for their entire
lives – would be devastating.
It may also
come as a surprise to some that seniors are united in their message to
Congress. According to AARP surveys, it makes no difference if someone is a
Republican, Democrat or Independent, they all think it’s wrong for the supercommittee to cut the benefits they’ve worked for and
depend on.
As the supercommittee’s deadline nears, it’s clear they have many
choices to make. One of the priorities should be to hold harmless the
millions of seniors who have worked our entire lives to earn our Medicare and
Social Security benefits. Seniors aren’t pushovers, we understand the stakes
for ourselves and for the country and we vote. Overwhelmingly we want to see
Congress cut government waste and close overly generous tax loopholes, not cut
our hard-earned benefits. Seniors are making our voices heard loud and
clear. Will Congress listen?
Laura J.
Green is state president of AARP.