Further means testing Medicare harms the middle class
Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) joined the Medicare Rights Center, Social Security Works and the Alliance for Retired Americans on a press conference call to release 150,000 petition signatures against further means testing Medicare and discuss the myriad reasons why further means testing is wrong.
The tone of the call was set in the opening remarks, with the comment that there are some issues in which citizens are ahead of policy makers, and where “the American people become leaders” and that preserving Medicare is one of those issues. Congresswoman Schakowsky discussed the policy objectives at play, both of those who wish to cut benefits through items like chained CPI, increased means testing, and other cost sharing vehicles and those like herself, who “have seen seniors at the end of the month lining up at food pantries, even in wealthier suburbs.” Schakowsky noted, “At least one in five seniors are already cutting back on health care because they can’t afford it.” She also pushed for congressional action for Medicare being giving the ability to negotiate drug prices, saying that it was a far superior fiscal policy than other proposals, like means testing Medicare.
Charlie Hogan, AFSCME retiree and Alliance for Retired Americans member, echoed Rep. Schakowsky’s call to put aside Medicare cuts, saying that “Austerity will not work, we cannot cut our way out.” As a union activist, he suggested that solutions can come from the American people. He said, “there is good common sense out here”, and if we could “find a way to make the table bigger” we could make great progress towards ensuring the strength of Medicare and Social Security.
Stacy Sanders of the Medicare Rights Center, articulated why means testing is ineffectual and dangerous. She laid out a list of three reasons why:
-Medicare is already means tested;
-Means testing means higher health care costs for the middle class; and
-More means testing would undermine the universality and integrity of Medicare
Dr. Ben Veghte, Research Director for Social Security Works, pointed out that the average senior's Social Security benefits are equivalent to a minimum wage income, about $15,000/year. He also said, “Indirectly,
Social Security benefits have been cut by rising out-of-pocket health care costs over the last two decades. Today, out-of-pocket health care costs eat up over a third of the Social Security check of the average senior.” He added, “Our health care system is currently twice as expensive as most other Western countries’, there are a number of proposals that would reduce health care costs, not just shift costs onto seniors,” and further means testing Medicare is “bad public policy in all respects.”
Overall, the message of the call was clear: Cuts to Medicare's earned benefits are not an option; we must keep fighting for the right for today's and tomorrow's seniors to retire with dignity.
Means testing Medicare harms middle class, not the wealthy. The 150,000 signatures encouraging President Obama to drop the idea of means testing Medicare released today is just a small sampling of the American public who insist we must keep Medicare strong, keep its promise and not cut it.