Most of my senior friends are really scared that their Medicare benefits will be cut -- all except my friends who are widows of corporate executives whose companies still have them covered and those who are retired teachers. The teachers happily see no medical bills whatsoever because their former school systems (a.k.a. local tax payers) are still picking up the complete tab. We all know that Medicare, corporate, public employee and union health care benefits are breaking the bank and driving up taxes, debts and deficits farther and farther. The question is: what can we do about it?
Blunt cuts hurt everyone. But many experts believe we can save significant sums by making intelligent choices about how we cut back and manage the care the health system is delivering. For an excellent analysis and set of recommendations on this very topic, read the opinion piece in the New York Times:
By EZEKIEL J. EMANUEL and JEFFREY B. LIEBMAN
Published: August 22, 2011
Smart cuts can be made to Medicare without shortchanging patients.
2 comments:
Teachers receive no help all is paid by the individual teacher.
We are cut off from all Social Security benefits due to the WEP/GPO law which republican Regan put in. This bill in 84 cut the SS for all teachers.
There has been a Fair Share Bill which the teachers, fireman, police has been working on for years.
iives of survivors of SS people are really broken
.Suggest you research and support this bill for the sake of the survivors who are being cheated.
It is their money that their spouses never received
School districts are not picking anything up.
The state workers in Cal are getting the complete pickup
Plus teachers contribute themselves but State people pay nothing
Carol, The teachers in my town have health covered. They are now, finally, contributing something to their premiums, just as most workers do. But they have excellent coverage. They have excellent pensions, too. I would bet that the pensions are better than SS. If your spouse worked and paid into SS, you can get the spousal SS award.
The person who is really screwed is the small business owner, who pays both sides of all payroll taxes and has to pay full premiums for individual health insurance. To make it affordable, most have high deductible plans - $5,000 -- with large co-pays.
Post a Comment