Medicare increases
The increase in Medicare premiums, announced late in the afternoon by an administration spokesman hoping no one would notice over the holiday weekend, will not escape the attention of most senior citizens. The raise is 17 percent, or about $12 per person. For a family of two this is $24 a month; $288 a year. This increase in insurance premiums is accompanied also by an increase in the deductible seniors and others in the Medicare program will have to pay if they go into the hospital. These increases are greater than the rate of inflation. On a personal level, the increases will not turn us out of our house and force us to live under a bridge, but for millions of Medicare subscribers already living on the edge, this could be the back-breaking straw. Some will undoubtedly be forced to opt out of the program and take their chances. There are many questions; here are just a few: why are critical drugs in America priced so high? why must Americans even think of sending prescriptions off to Canada to save a little? are insurance costs for medical practitioners justified by insurance payouts? why does an aspirin in a hospital cost $5 when you can buy 100 in a bottle at Wal-Mart for less than $4?
#214 (04-63)
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