Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
There have been rumors that President Obama may agree to a Republican demand to hike the Medicare age. In an interview with Barbara Walters, Obama suggested that this move is on the table.
Progressive Democratic senators are revolting against this unpopular idea. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) told the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent that we should be “lowering” the Medicare age, “not raising it”:
ai???I do a lot of town halls,ai??? Merkley said. ai???I canai??i??t tell you how many times someone will come up to me and say, ai???Hereai??i??s the thing. Iai??i??m 61, and I have these major health problems. I donai??i??t have insurance. Iai??i??m praying I make it to 65.ai??i?? The idea that weai??i??re going to take all these folks with diseases setting in as they get older, and move them two years later? Absolutely unacceptable.ai???
ai???We should be lowering the age, not raising it,ai??? Merkley said. Speaking of the president, Merkley added: ai???I hope he hears long and loud from us who are connected to the real lives of working people.ai???
Merkley is absolutely right. Hiking the Medicare age from 65 to 67 would cost seniors at least $11 billion every year. Meanwhile, expanding public health insurance would save American beneficiaries and the Treasury money. The Congressional Budget Office estimates, for example, that offering a public option based on Medicare rates in the Affordable Care Act would save about $15 billion every year.
corporations pay one fortieth of the countries income. Humans pay forty times more and this is wrong. Now the idea that we can reduce costs to corporations by raising eligibility ages is, well, evil, by my standards.
Health care for all…..this alone will reduce our costs, namely by taking the obscenity called profit out of health care. Profit. On health care. How ugly can it get.
I would go even further and say that the age eligibility should be removed completely so that anybody who needs the insurance can get it
Sounds like you think the idea should be a Medicare age of 0! I think that’s a message progressives can get behind.
Thanks for reading,
Zaid
I couldn’t be prouder of my Senator Merkley. He speaks my language. Medicare Part E (for Everyone) !
Senator Merkley is right on the mark. Time to hit the morning shows and spread the word.
Just to be clear…I think it’s important that those who provide health care can make a decent living from providing health care. What I find distasteful is stock holders making lots of profit from the illness of people with whom they have no relationship.
Agreed!
alot of corporations are not insuring people properly, and too, we subsidize other portions of medical insurances, out of our own pockets! These corporations are reaping in all sort of benefits, and get benefits to hire minorities, disabled veterans, etc. for a payout to them for hiring these type of Individuals…… for means of these corporations getting monies into there hands for hiring these people, no real benefit to the Individual they hire, a money ploy…… and too, as in my state, these big corporations are using only temporary hire people, to get out of paying for any medical benefits at all, and of course they tell you that if you work for a temporary agency, these temporary agencies have medical coverage, the problem with that is, you are not employed long enough to ever get Insurance, so the lie goes on!!!!