Love Your Grandma and Let's VOW to allow Social Security and Medicare to CARE for our Senior Citizens!!

As a consultant, I speak to American Seniors every day.
We talk about their current status. We talk about Social Security. Have they gone to SSA.gov to obtain their estimated view of their Social Security payments at 62, 66 and 70? Have they started tracking their budget – their expenses vs. their income? Do they have any retirement savings? Do they have ANY PLANS if Social Security should go away tomorrow?

It is always interesting to have this discussion. Most Americans DO NOT have a plan if Social Security should go away. In fact, over 50% of Americans do NOT have a retirement plan nor retirement savings and RELY completely on Social Security AND Medicare for their retirement needs.

Today, most people on Social Security are paid between $1000 - $2000 a month. Most have paid into Social Security ALL of their lives. MOST view Social Security as their Retirement Plan, since they have paid into it through their payroll ALL of their working lives. I don’t know of ANY Americans (who have paid into Social Security via their payroll for more than 10 years) who view Social Security as an “Entitlement.”
Over the next 20 years, as the Baby Boomers achieve retirement age, we will have the Highest Rate of American Seniors relying on Social Security as their primary source of income.

What is going to happen if a Republican is elected into office and successfully ENDS Social Security and Medicare? What will happen to the 50% of American Seniors that RELY on Social Security and Medicare as their Sole Source of Sustenance?

The ONLY PEOPLE that want to END Social Security are Republicans who CARE NOTHING about our Seniors!
I ask ALL Caring Americans to be ever vigilante and VOW to allow Social Security and Medicare to CARE for our Senior Citizens!!  Please Care for your Grandparents through Social Security AND Medicare! They have Paid Into this program ALL of Their Lives!

Republicans are Sneaky & Nasty! Propose Keeping Tax Cuts for Rich while Insisting Upon Massive Cuts to Social Security & Medicare!

Today, the Republicans in Congress, led by John Boehner and Paul Ryan, have just outed themselves! Horrible! John Boehner made an AWFUL counter proposal to our President today regarding the Fiscal Cliff.

Here is what Republicans are proposing:
1. NOT ENDING TAX CUTS for Rich: Boehner said NO to the President's proposal to end Tax Cuts for the Rich 2%! Instead, he proposed....

2. CUTTING Social Security: SS is SOLVENT until 2033. Yet Boehner and the Republicans are asking for $200 billion through revising the Cost of Living "CPI". This means that those on SS will see IMMEDIATE CUTS in their Social Security benefits. No more cost of living increases...instead, if approved, each retiree will see a CUT of up to $1000 each month by the time they reach 75.

3. RAISE MEDICARE ELIGIBILTY AGE TO 66 - 70: $600 billion in Medicare savings that would include raising the eligibility age and "structural Medicare reform." That's what they euphemistically call Ryan's voucher system, but it's not clear from the information available if that's what they're talking about now.


4. $800 billion in unspecified "pro-growth tax reform that closes special-interest loopholes and deductions while lowering rates."


5. $300 billion in other "mandatory" savings, including farm subsidies. No further details there.

6. $300 billion in further unspecified discretionary cuts.

VP Debate Update: Ryan ADMITS his Plan to Change Medicare, Social Security and MEDICAID! Plans to THROW GRANNY FROM A CLIFF!

During last Thursday night's VP Debate, Paul Ryan finally admitted two things (which Romney has been avoiding):
1. The Romney/Ryan plan will change Medicare to a Voucher Program -- to occur in 2016.
2. The Romney/Ryan plan will significantly REDUCE Medicaid and leave it to the States to provide the significantly Reduced Coverage -- to occur IMMEDIATELY.
It is critical for the American Public to understand what this means. Romney has refused to state these positions publicly. Now, Ryan has OUTED their Agenda.

Most Americans DO NOT want to think about what will happen when they become Senior Citizens. I spoke to two young Romney voters this week. My (barbie type niece) said she was voting for Romney because he was "cuter" than Obama. My 30ish Yuppie friend said he was voting for Romney because he said he believes the country should take a new direction and he believes in the "tax cuts for the rich - trickle down" theory (Fox News watcher) -- as if that has ever worked. Of course he cited Reagan, but I had to remind him that Romney RAISED TAXES 4 Times! Barbie said, "I'm glad that Romney's discontinuing Medicare and SS cause I'm tired of paying my money for lazy people." 

Social Security: Ryan's Plan calls for privatizing Social Security. I will blog about this in a future post.
Medicare: Voucher Program. I will blog about this in a future post.

Medicaid: Ryan said Romney's plan is to CUT MEDICAID ON DAY ONE! On today's post, I'm going to talk about Medicaid.

As many of my long time readers know, after I retired from my Process Engineering job at a large Communications company in 2009, I became a Consultant working for Medicare Enrollment and Retiree Investment Corporations. As a consultant, I have learned so much about the retiree experience. I purposely sought out these jobs because, now that I am in my 60's, I wanted to learn more about the Senior Citizen experience before I enter into it.
As a Medicare Consultant, I learned that over 50% of our Seniors rely solely on Social Security and Medicare for their existence. They have no other source of income. I learned that a large number of Medicare recipients are Dual Eligible - meaning they recieve both Medicare and Medicaid. Many of them are in Nursing Homes.
Not long ago, I spoke with a woman whose Aunt was in a Nursing Home. Her aunt had been a teacher her entire life and enjoyed being self reliant. Throughout her career, her aunt was healthy, independent and saved much of her income, planning for retirement. She had a considerable nest egg when she retired at 65. She had accumulated over $750,000. In her early retirement she traveled around the country and across the world. However in her late sixties, she became ill. At first she was ok. She had medicare to take care of most of her medical expenses. However, in her seventies, her health took a turn for the worse. She needed daily care. At first, a nurse came to her home a few days a week. Then she needed daily help. Then finally, she was unable to take care of herself at all and it was necessary for her to be placed in a care facility -- a Nursing Home.
Her niece helped her find a nicer facility but it was very expensive. Soon, her aunt depleted her entire retirement savings and the monies from the sale of her home. Her niece said to me, "It only took a little over a year. You would be surprised at how quickly the money runs out.  The nursing home cost was $10,000 a month. This did not include the Medical or Prescription Drug costs, this was only the Nursing Home costs."
Statistics tell us the average daily cost of a private room in a nursing home in the United States is $120,000 a year.
Once her aunt's savings were depleted, her niece helped her apply for Medicaid to help pay for her Nursing home costs. Her Aunt would not have been happy with the turn of events. She spent her life being so proud of her ability to save and being independent. This was only SEVEN YEARS since she had retired thinking she had plenty of savings to take care of herself until she died.
Her niece told me it was difficult applying for aid from the government. She had to prove that her Aunt had depleted her savings, lost her home and had no other sources of income. Her aunt would have been humiliated by the extent of what her niece had to do -- providing so much documentation, filling out so many forms, make call after call, making sure all requirements were met, all so her aunt could receive Medicaid. "I had to jump through hoops for her just so she could receive the aid she so direly needs. She would have hated it. Like so many others, she thought Medicaid was a handout. But she paid her taxes and worked all of her life. If anyone deserves this, my Aunt certainly did. She was such a good person. She helped me, her students and so many other people all of her life."
Her niece told me one other thing. "I know that I did all that I could to find a nice place for my aunt, but it is really like so many others. My aunt needs the daily care, but what is so mind boggling to me is how much the Nursing Home costs. It costs $10,000 a month and the place has only One Nurse. It's really the minimum wage Care Workers that are providing my aunt all the support she needs."

The bottom line is: Ryan ADMITTED on the stage on Thursday that a Romney/Ryan ticket will CHANGE Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as we know them -- and Medicaid ON DAY ONE! Most Americans DON'T UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS!!! Ryan Romney PLAN TO THROW GRANNY OFF A CLIFF!

Ryan Plans to Demolish Medicare and Lies About Obama's Plan to Save Medicare

Ryan plans to demolish Medicare as we know it. He wants to replace it with a Voucher Program which does not cover the needed healthcare costs of our seniors. In other words, he wants to push granny off a cliff. Ryan's plan also gives MASSIVE Tax Cuts to the Rich 1 percenters.
While the President's Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes plans on reducing $7B in excessive charges by insurance companies, redundancies and fraud, Politifact says Romney/Ryan are Lying when they say ACA cuts patient care. ACA Does NOT touch one dollar of patient care. Additionally while Ryan and Romney are complaining about these cuts, Ryan's plan includes these same cuts.
Politifact.com: Today, Medicare operates as a government-run health insurance plan for Americans over age 65. Ryan’s idea is to eventually move Medicare toward private insurance companies by giving people a set amount to buy their own health insurance plans... it would give them voucher-like credits to buy traditional fee-for-service Medicare or competing private insurance plans.
"Mitt Romney derides the $700 billion cuts in Medicare that the president achieved through health care reform. Those cuts take subsidies away from insurance companies, taking rebates away from prescription drug company. Is that what Mitt Romney wants to protect? And interestingly enough Paul Ryan protected those cuts in his budget."
Danny Kanner: "First, Ryan attacked the President for the very same ($700B) Medicare savings that he includes in his own budget. In the same breath, he falsely claimed that the Romney-Ryan budget protects Medicare -– in fact, their plan would end Medicare as we know it, leaving seniors with nothing but a voucher in place of the guaranteed benefits they rely on today. Then, Ryan refused to name a single tax loophole they’d close to pay for their $5 trillion tax plan. We know what that means: as independent experts have confirmed, Romney and Ryan’s tax plan would either explode the deficit or raise taxes on middle class families to pay for their tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. As Romney and Ryan run away from the plans they have laid out -- and in Ryan’s case, passed through the Republican House twice -- they’re revealing that they’d take the American people back to the same failed policies that crashed our economy in the first place, and have zero interest in the bold, honest, substantive debate that they claim is at the center of their campaign."

More Bad News for Paul Ryan: New Poll says 80% of Americans OPPOSE Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid!!! And 72% OPPOSE Tax Cuts for the Rich!

A new McClatchy-Marist poll finds that Americans oppose cuts to Medicare or Medicaid by a WHOPPING 80 percent. Included in these numbers: Republicans (by 73%) and Independents (by 75%) . In fact 75% of Teapartiers OPPOSE cuts to Medicare / Medicaid!

The President is RIGHT! Ryan's plan is Massively Unpopular!

Also, 72% of Americans are AGAINST Ryan's proposed Tax Cuts for the Rich! Interestingly, 64 percent of voters support raising taxes on incomes above $250,000 to pay down the deficit, with 63 percent of independents backing this approach.

Polls are proving: REPUBLICAN AND TEAPARTY VOTERS ARE FINALLY UNDERSTANDING THE REPUBLICAN BIG BUSINESS AGENDA is AGAINST "WE THE PEOPLE!" -- WHAT WE DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO TELL THEM FOR YEARS!!! THE POLLS ARE PROVING IT!

I think we are going to see Lots of Backpeddling by Many Republicans off of their core agenda and off of the Birther issue. I would LOVE to see the AMERICAN PEOPLE COME TOGETHER AND DEMAND OUR POLITICIANS SUPPORT:
1. TAX INCREASES FOR THE RICH (especially for those who earn over $1 M)
2. DEMAND BUSINESS BRING THEIR OFF-SHORE WORK BACK TO AMERICA OR PAY a stiff Penalty
3. DEMAND CONGRESS FOCUS ON JOBS JOBS JOBS TO IMPROVE OUR ECONOMY!

4. FIND WAYS TO KEEP MEDICARE AND MEDICAID -- OUR PROMISE TO OUR SENIORS!

Paul Ryan's Plan OBLITERATES Medicare As We Know It! Breaks America's Promise to the Elderly!

Here is Medicare as we know it today:

Here is Paul Ryan's View of Medicare in the Future which Breaks America's Promise to the Elderly. The Elderly are FORCED to shop around for medical services with a token voucher as Doctors and Hospitals Prices Skyrocket and KNOWING they may be denied due to pre-existing conditions!

President Obama's Response to the Ryan Budget Plan

President Obama's Response to the Ryan Budget Plan: It is a vision that would see "roads crumble and bridges collapse," young Americans unable to go to college, seniors left uncared for, Medicare ended, and 50 million Americans left without health insurance.