Social Security and Medicare are Doomed…Used as Political Football Too Long

by Joel Hendon⁽¹⁷⁰⁾ Red Star

http://hebronics.org/index.html

The United States, after becoming a nation in 1776, was still virtually primitive in many ways and many places, for at least a full century. From the middle of the nineteenth to the early. years of the twentieth century, there were virtually no social programs within the government.

Families took care of their own whenever possible and friends and neighbors helped when the need was dire. Life was often very difficult and trying, but people lived and accepted what they had, regardless of how meager. Sometime near the turn of the century, some states built houses for indigent people, disabled or unable to care for themselves. Many families refused to have their people sent to those homes due to pride, even though it resulted in grievous hardship. They were referred to as “Poor Houses”.

The severe depression which occurred in 1929 brought on extreme conditions. People, in some instances were dying of malnutrition. Literally starving to death. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in 1932 and immediately began social stimulus, creating public work jobs and welfare provisions where food was distributed to families in need and to rural schools. In 1935, the president signed the Social Security act, but this was not the beginning of the Social Security law which began the first of what is now Social Security. This began in 1937.

This program proved to be a Godsend to the elderly, especially after the loss of so many sons and fathers in WW2. This program was quite successful for a number of years. Many workers were paying into the fund while only a relative few were becoming retired. The fund grew to an enormous size. It never pays to have some fund become so large while under the control of government. Legislators and presidents saw the immensity and began adding to those who were eligible, adding benefits and even borrowing funds for other purposes.

Forecasters warned early on, with the large increase in babies born following WW2, there would come a time that all those new arrivals would become retirement age. This, however, seemed a long time from present and especially when the baby boomers started paying into the funds. Only within the past decade, has the problem begun to show it’s fangs and start to wake up a few legislators. However, rather than reform the programs before the coming disaster, politicians, as they are so self trained, began to play football with it. No one was willing to pick up the ball and run with it. It became an excellent ploy to use it in their rhetoric, that WE will not allow Social Security to be harmed.

Criticize whomever you wish, but George W. Bush was the only one, that I know of, who proposed a reformation of the plans and that they be partially privatized. An excellent thought but so attacked by his opponents that it went nowhere. Now, President Obama, has instituted the disastrous health care reform which is actually destroying Medicare as well as Social Security. His only plan for them was to cut $500 billion from their budget, cutting it from waste and fraud. Sounds alright since there is apparently at least that much fraud within the program. But that isn’t where it is being cut. The current limitations on Medicare has rendered it completely inadequate, and beginning in 2012 doctors will be leaving in mass. This, the year of beginning restrictions has caused the Medicare Advantage Insurance programs to self destruct. Many of them raised their monthly premiums out of the reach of most recipients of Social Security. And those who retained their monthly premiums in reach, have been forced to limit their physicians pay causing the majority to opt out of the system. Social Security and Medicare, have become more inadequate this year than any other since I have been on it. And those restricted payments to health providers are scheduled to be much lower new year, 2012.

My brief personal experience: I was raised on a farm and my skin received a lot of sunshine. I have had numerous little basal cell skin cancers which they tell me was probably caused by the excessive sun. In previous years since my retirement, I first had a Medicare Advantage plan where I had no co-pay for having those little nuisance cancers removed. Then it became such that I had $15.00 co-pay. But for 2011, most of the Advantage plans became so expensive people depending upon Social Security could not afford to carry them. But a few stayed in reach, but lo!, of the four dermatologists in my area, all rejected the plans due to the reduced fees they were allowed to pay them. They will still do your work, and file the out-of system plan for you. I had one small basal cell removed in March. My share of the bill was $164. I can’t afford much of that. But that is not the worst. Beginning in 2012, the new health care plan reduces the health providers fees even more. There is no question, many of the Medicare recipients will not be able to secure medical treatment.

Now we have a member of the U.S House of Representatives who has come up with a plan to reform these “entitlement” programs which will harm no one and will result in removing these political football programs from the government’s responsibility. It is a good plan and will work if given the proper attention and opportunity. Yet, those who would rather play football than to help stabilize this nation’s economy, are sending their boos and lies, that it will destroy Social Security and Medicare! The precise thing they are now doing and yet they have no solution other than cut the programs by $500 billion dollars. I urge every interested person to visit the website of Paul Ryan and then use his links to see the proposed legislation. It isn’t 1100 pages as is the ObamaCare. A bill made law with not one of the legislators, or the president having read it. Click here for Paul Ryan.

Article submitted Friday, June 17, 2011 & read 59 times.

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