Medicare for Young and Old

Medicare for Young and Old

For some time, we have heard about healthcare but never knew all the details. 

People, including those elected officials, began taking sides, as if they were part of a boxing match, waiting for someone to fall, as they stood on the left or the right side of the aisle, either screaming, “No” – or clapping and yelling, “Yes.”

This is the behavior of the government we have grown so used to – how unfortunate for us, but more so for the future of our children.

Healthcare is not a political choice, but a decision you make with your doctor for the treatment you receive, or in the future, you may be fighting to receive the correct treatment – as doctors continue to try to serve their patients without sidestepping because of increasing costs and insurance.

Back in 1915, President Wilson wanted a Public Health System, to help protect cities with diseases and even more illness, not yet named but spreading around the country. A Public Health System would help control towns and cities.

The Congress fought the progress, and the Public Health System, would not be approved until 1919, only months after the end of the killer flu of 1918 – millions met death throughout the world, and in the United States – our government finally realized what one disease could do to a country, let alone a family.

Back in the thirties, during the depression, our economy was failing, as it has failed before and is failing today.  It was the time when Medicare became part of our health system, at first – part of the FDA, and later, its’ own government agency.

Medicare has been for the people, and it has been proven to help during these tough times, and hopefully, it will continue. One thing we cannot do is rob from those who survive only because of services received through Medicare.

Although it has been said and said again, Medicare will not be touched, nor Medicaid.  The very next day, a member of Congress is speaking out, pulling strings to take a little from here or there – and we listen as the information changes.

Medicare is known to serve seniors and is seldom referred too as the healthcare provider for those who receive disability.  Imagine living in this day and age with a total of six hundred dollars per month, after they remove the low cost of Medicare – low to us, but not to a person who is disabled, young, and worked long enough to apply for disability, and receive Medicare, but now living below poverty.

Medicare covers your medical care, depending on what you choose, part A or B, when you became disabled, and you have a certain number of months to answer yes or no, you want to pay for the healthcare, or not.  Unfortunately, they do not tell the people they are on a time limit, accepting coverage or not.  Medicare is coverage and worth every penny to those without health insurance.

The drug plan needs adjustments as I read more along those lines, I believe it costs seniors and the disabled more if they purchase the plan President Bush laid out – since many of the older drugs are not expensive, and most seniors are using such drugs.

It is the person living life with a disease requiring costly medicines that need to be changed. Social Security and then Medicare began for the people as they gave with each paycheck, a little for a bit of security.

They believed in living longer, and Social Security, along with Medicare, would help with their healthcare after they stopped working.

Medicare for those younger than retirement and living with a disability, are ignored in discussions, and you will hear it over and over, it is not a figment of my imagination.  Imagine individuals with special needs, never knowing where the money will come from to keep them alive.

As I mentioned, the average Disability check for a young person is about seven hundred dollars a month – then minus the cost of Medicare and which plan you joined, if you included hospital in-patient care.  If you live alone and receive these entitlements, the payment is slightly higher, but where can someone live, eat, take care of their health needs, have adequate transportation if they cannot drive or walk, on seven hundred dollars a month.

I have mentioned the seniors who skip out on doctor appointments or don’t use all the meds correctly, to save money, and these individuals have pensions, in some cases, but it varies with the disabled.  Seniors have worked a lifetime, while those on disability were cut short, so the payment and coverage differ.

If one person in a household works and the other collects Medicare for healthcare – it works out. Still, alone, the chances of someone receiving Disability and Medicare, ending up living in a nursing home, is high.  Then, all the payments go to the home to cover the care of the individual.

I can bet on it. You will not be living in the best nursing home on disability and Medicare.  Many younger people could end up in a group home, and their checks go to pay for the home that will accept them – yet people say openings are rare.

The issue of Medicare is an essential aspect for the young is ignored on talk shows, on the news, and never opened up as part of the discussion by members of Congress, or when your representative returns to their stomping ground to hold a meeting on a street corner.

Not long ago, people gathered in Boston. I happened to be one of them, who stood up to talk in favor of the “American’s for Disabilities Act,” a bill which would later be signed by President Clinton and improved life for those with disabilities.  I did the same when it came to Senator Edward Kennedy, when I spoke on Save Our Security, for seniors – although many years away, it was still crucial for every American.

In my own heart, I believed the more people who took the time to speak out. The more Congress would listen. Also, I think as Americans, we should be pulling for one another, no matter the party you may be affiliated with – and political parties need to change with the times.  New generations are no longer judging a person by their party, but by what they stand for regarding the people’s needs.

Those who spoke out for the Americans with Disabilities Act were fighting to give those living on disability the opportunity to go back to work, with the appropriate equipment, parking needs, wheelchair accommodations, and so forth.

So many establishments had to change according to the new law, and access was a big part of it. Cities had to lower the curbs so a wheelchair would be of use, ramps to enter a public building, and more.  It was plain to see, if someone on disability had the way to get to work and do what they know best with proper changes, they would be living a better life.   Thanks to President Clinton, it did.

At the same time, I recall being on stage with Senator Edward Kennedy for Save our Security – when over five hundred American people, mostly retired, filled Faneuil Hall in Boston.  After those of us on stage spoke, I realized how important it was for someone younger, like myself at the time, to be standing next to the Senator and speaking on the issue of SSI and Medicare for twenty minutes.

People in our world need to know why the young need their help, and this is not a handout, they worked for it, and would instead be working – yes, fraud and abuse in the system is a number one subject and is being addressed.

We have to revise and be sure we do not ignore any population whose survival depends on Medicare and Medicaid.

I believe Americans never had the opportunity to get to know the healthcare bill and how it would affect their life.  The election is over, and healthcare is being talked about, so take a moment and let your representative know how some people live when dealing with illness.

Don’t let the government keep the people in the dark.