Note:
The following is the text of a message I have sent to President
Obama. I urge you to do the same using the links at the end of this
commentary. Please feel free to copy any section of the text into
your message. I have also sent messages to my elected representatives
in the U.S. Congress containing relevant sections of the text below.
Dear
President Obama,
Please
do not agree to raising the eligibility age for Medicare. Causing our
brother and sister Americans to wait longer in order to receive
adequate and affordable medical care would be a very bad thing to do.
Such
a move would be a threat to the health of older people and cost
employers and employees more.
Raising
the eligibility age is going in the wrong direction. We should be
trying to lower the eligibility age, not raise it. What we need is
Medicare for everyone.
There
are countless Americans who are holding off going to the doctor
because they are waiting for Medicare to kick in. In the last few
weeks, I have met several people who have some health problems they
can not afford to have treated and are waiting for their 65th
birthday to arrive so they can get Medicare coverage. The
Affordable Care Act
(Obamacare) contained some significant advances, however, there are
still millions of people who either have no medical insurance or are
under insured.
Increasing
the eligibility age will cost employees and employers more because
the moment this happens, the insurance companies will raise their
rates for everyone and justify it because of the inclusion of the
older demographic.
According
to the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities,
raising the Medicare age from 65 to 67 would increase
overall health spending and shift costs to seniors, states, and
employers. It would
save the federal government $5.7 billion but cost a total of $11.4
billion.
Think
about it Mr. President. You don’t want your legacy to include such
a blot on your healthcare record.
Respectfully
yours,
Peter
Gamble
U.S.
Citizen, Registered Voter & Veteran
Publisher,
BlackCommentator.com
As
usual I end this column with information BC readers can use to
communicate with elected officials
Signing
petitions is good, but a personal call, letter or email is better.
For
the U.S. House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/
(enter your zip code in the upper right corner of the page)
For
the U.S. Senate: http://senate.gov/
(choose your state using the drop down menu in the upper right
corner)
White
House Comment Line - 202.456.1111
White
House Switchboard - 202.456.1414
White
House Website contact form: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
BlackCommentator.com Publisher
and Chief Technical Officer Peter Gamble, is the recipient of a
national Sigma Delta Chi award for public service in journalism and
numerous other honors for excellence in reporting and investigative
reporting. The “beats” he covered as a broadcast journalist
ranged from activism in the streets to the State Department and White
House. The lure of a personal computer on his desk inspired a career
change in 1985 and an immersion into what he sees as the future of
communications. The acquisition of computer programming skills made
it possible for Peter to achieve an important level of self-reliance
in the technology of the 21st century and to develop
BlackCommentator.com. Click here
to contact Peter.
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