The Way I See It

SPOILER ALERT THIS WILL BE VERY WORDY AND REVEAL THE TRUTH ABOUT SENIORS ON SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE WHO ARE BEING DUPED NOW AND IF NOT STOPPED, THE FUTURE

So today I watched and listened to politicians and Media presenting their views on the issue of Medicare today, which by the way today is Medicare’s Birthday! Happy Birthday to TRADITIONAL Medicare!

Infuriated is the only word I have about all I learned today. It seems to me, that Retirees in every City and State are being used as a weapon against two factions trying to steal the Medicare benefits earned by hard working men and women in this country and using us to enact their own plan to kill off the Seniors who need Medicare and Social Security the most!

I sat and listened to the “Snake Charmers” aka Medicare Advantage Private Insurance Companies, Unions and City Government; and “Old West wagon Medicine Bottle Sellers” aka Politicians and Media personnel and Union Leaders selling their “fake cures” for the Medicare issues plaguing Retirees living on Social Security across the Nation.

Medicare Advantage (truly disadvantage) plans run by Private insurance companies lining their pockets with government money by tricking and scheming older folks into their plans with enticing words like, “oh we will include vision and dental, gyms and transportation for you seniors if you elect to take our plan!”. Omitting of course the actual denying of tests, surgeries, medicines, and doctor visits by a panel of incompetent physicians, administrators and financiers who deny primary care physicians orders for their patients…us! Why would they do this? Monetary Profits that’s why! Illegal schemes to deny what traditional Medicare will pay for! They are using the times we are in to take away the responsibility government has to protect the older generation who need more medical attention thereby putting that responsibility on themselves for gaining profits. With the full knowledge they will provide much less quality care than traditional Medicare would. A very simplistic answer to why City and State are buying into this Scheme…. Again Money! These entities are saving money by not providing for us and get kick backs for doing so. Unions as well fit into this scheme, mainly to cover themselves for the theft of retiree funding sources.

Politicians, Certain Organizations. Some Union Leadership who want a “National Medicare for All” program have hitched onto the cause of Public Service Retirees in order to use us as a stepping stone weapon to get what they wanted all along! A government subsidized program such as Medicare through Social Security to pay for a healthcare social program that will cover migrants, refugees, and all people who did not work in this country and need healthcare coverage. Why Medicare? Because Medicare recipients through Social Security have the most lucrative funding at this time in history. They are running out of Medicaid funding which covered all those without Social Security 65 and older as well as those too poor to pay for health coverage so those of us who dedicated our lives to our jobs, paid and continue to pay taxes, Medicare premiums and deductibles will pay out of our earned benefit fund those that Medicaid can no longer afford to keep paying for. Doesn’t matter that majority receiving State and Local Medicaid with infusions by the Federal government are workers who worked without paying Social Security deductions from salaries or if they just can’t afford healthcare. What matters is who they are looking to take this needed funding from and that is from the backs of workers who did everything the right way in this country and allowed the Federal government to use our funds while we worked to invest as they pleased. Now that we are baby boom retiring they do not want to give us what we rightfully earned over many years of blood, sweat and tears and money paid. Ladies and Gents we are the most vulnerable group out there! We are their “Big Picture” solution! Problem is we will be the biggest losers and most importantly our very lives will be our greatest loss. We must fight back against these powerful people including the Media who mainly ignore us because we are mostly over the age of 50!

WE NEED TO BE UNTOUCHED! We need to KEEP OUR TRADITIONAL MEDICARE (associated with our Social security) BENEFIT. We need our local government and Unions to keep their negotiated promises and laws in place when we retired as public service workers to supplement our traditional Medicare with a comprehensive plan we chose upon that retirement. We need to retain the ability to choose additional supplemental coverage if our health requires it at a reasonable privately paid cost if necessary. We need the Unions, the Mayor, the City Councils to recognize our request and treat us with the respect, dignity and trust we earned as public servants. We need them to let the Federal politicians work out their own problems with healthcare and not hurt every American and Immigrant Retiree out there who paid their dues and taxes without hesitation. We need their protection not be the “hammers” that nail us to the whipping posts!

My personal suggestion to the politicians in favor of “Medicare for All”…stop. Instead make your cause “MEDICAID for All” find additional funding another way, maybe through private insurance companies. Leave our traditional Medicare as it has always been! Pick on someone your own size… the weak and the meek have had enough agitation to last us the few years we have left! We will stand no matter what and fight for the right side of history till our last breath!

And That’s the Way I See It, here in Jackson.

K

MEDICARE FUNDING

Funding for Medicare, which totaled $888 billion in 2021, comes primarily from general revenues (46%), payroll tax revenues (34%), and premiums paid by beneficiaries (15%). Other sources include taxes on Social Security benefits, payments from states, and interest.

General revenue – 46%

The sum of taxes, charges, and miscellaneous income taken in at the state and local level (while neglecting overlapping revenue which may be erroneously counted twice.-?)

Payroll tax revenue- 34%

A payroll tax is a tax paid on the wages and salaries of employees to finance social insurance programs like Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance.

Premium paid by beneficiaries is the premium paid from the retirees social security benefit each month. – 15%

(So approx. 49% of the money calculated into our social security benefit goes into paying for our Medicare benefit during our lifetimes).

SOURCE: CMS.gov

MEDICAID FUNDING

Medicaid represents $1 out of every $6 spent on health care in the U.S. and is the major source of financing for states to provide health coverage and long-term services and supports for low-income residents. Medicaid is administered by states within broad federal rules and jointly funded by states and the federal government through a federal matching program with no cap. Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact have had significant implications for Medicaid spending and enrollment. Early in the pandemic, federal legislation prohibited states from disenrolling people from Medicaid in exchange for enhanced federal matching funds. These changes resulted in significant increases in Medicaid enrollment and total Medicaid spending. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed into law at the end of 2022, phases down the enhanced federal matching funds as states unwind the Medicaid continuous enrollment provision starting April 1, 2023. Those changes will continue to impact Medicaid spending and enrollment trends.

SOURCE: KFF

“KFF has evolved into a one-of-a-kind information organization that brings together health policy analysis, polling, journalism, and specialized public information campaigns. We are now a unique organization that serves as a nonpartisan source of information for policymakers, the media, the health policy community, and the public.”