To the editor:
I wish to address some of the recent opinions in The Forum regarding Medicare and Medicaid recipients. Most people lump these people in the same category, which is a complete misconception. They are not the same in any way.
Medicare was established in 1965, at which time both employer and employee began paying into a fund to establish insurance for Social Security recipients over 65 or disabled. I personally have paid into Medicare since that date, and even though I am officially retired, I still pay it because I have self-employment income. I pay $98.50 monthly Medicare premium coverage and $60 for Prescription D drug coverage.
Since I have been paying Medicare taxes for 47 years and still pay, I don’t feel my medical coverage is something given to me for free. I pay $20 co-pay each doctor visit and specialists $35 per visit. So please don’t put my situation in with Medicaid recipients. At this time my co-pay on prescriptions ranges from $0 on generic drugs and up to $20. My drug cost each month is a minimum of $60. Most seniors pay an additional $150 to $200 monthly for supplemental insurance.
Medicaid is insurance furnished by the state to either children or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients. There is no payment made for benefits, and their co-pay is either $2 or zero. Their medicine co-pay is usually 50 cents.
Millions of Americans receive SSI and Medicaid benefits for various reasons — some deserved, some not. Some receive benefits because they never paid taxes while they worked. Others just don’t or never worked and so parents and children are on SSI. Some have become disabled and can’t get Social Security disability benefits because they didn’t pay FICA or Medicare taxes due to failure to report their earnings over the years on self-employment or so-called under the table income.
In one case I personally know of, a recipient draws more than I do each month and gets food stamps, free Medicaid physicians and drug payments.
Medicare recipients are getting benefits from a plan they paid on and are now paying premiums on. SSI recipients get monthly payments, Medicaid and other benefits paid for by federal and state programs supported by taxpayers. I’m not saying SSI and Medicaid should not exist, but I think it is widely abused.
One way the cost of the new health care program proposed by the current Congress and president is to be paid by cutting the Medicare and Medicaid programs. They also want to tax payments paid to employee insurance by employers either to the employee or employer when they pay their income tax while bailing out insurance companies, banks and automakers with taxpayer money.
Looks like seniors and insured workers will be paying for the new health insurance program to cover millions of Americans who don’t work and don’t try to pay for insurance. Do you want your elderly parents and grandparents to pay for those millions to receive free insurance?
When the government takes over health insurance from private insurance companies, that puts them out of business and helps break our economy. We should contact our Congressmen and tell them we as taxpayers cannot afford to pay for any more government freebies.
Shirley Brindle
