GOLDEN YEARS TARNISHED

Ah, the "Golden Years"! You work for 50 years, you plan your retirement, pay the max into Social Security, dream of a life of leisure.....and what happens?

You retire. You adjust to your new, lower monthly income. You learn how to control your household budget. You secure a Supplemental Insurance policy to cover the things Medicare doesn't. You get a Part D prescription policy to cover your meds. You start doing things that you always wanted to do, but did not have time for. You change your wardrobe. You grow a beard. You learn to "twitter'. "text" and "surf". You learn what Facebook is. Life is pretty good! You think you might like this thing called RETIREMENT! Then....what happens?

Your wife tells you her food budget has been reached...on the 22nd of the month!

You go to the Post Office, get the mail...stop by the local HandiShop to fill your tank and pick up a paper. You realize it cost over $8 more to fill your tank than last week...THEN, you notice that gasoline prices rose by 37 cents a gallon since last week!

You go to the doctor for a checkup. Everything seems to be OK! You need to watch your cholesterol and be sure to get some daily exercise...but, you are in pretty good shape..."for your age". Then you get the bill...WHAT? But, I am only supposed to pay a copay of $25! What is all this other stuff? "You have to pay your deductible first." "How much is that?" "$950" "WHAT?" Then you learn that your arthritis and allergy meds are not on the list of approved drugs....so you pay the full tab. Oh, and your copay is $20 now.

You go to the dentist to get your regular checkup and cleaning. Doc wants to replace a filling that is old and deteriorated. He can do it right now...cool. Then....you get the bill. "$487? But I have Medicare and a Supplemental Insurance policy!" "Medicare nor your insurance covers Dental, Sir." "You mean I have to pay the whole thing?" "Yes, Sir, you do...but, you can pay it over the next 3 months for an extra 5% if you like, Sir." WHAT?

You are watching TV...you lean forward to see it better....it still looks fuzzy. You get up and walk to the TV to adjust the picture....only to find out that the TV picture is clear as a bell...from 3 feet away. You call for an eye appointment. You get your eyes examined...you get new glasses...you can now see a lot better! Then...you get the bill. "WHAT?" "Medicare and your insurance does not cover vision, Sir." WHAT?

What is happening? Each month, your expenses rise. Groceries keep going up in price. Gasoline prices are out of control! Your health insurance premiums keep going up...and covering less. Medicare benefits keep going down. To top it all off, since the government says there is no inflation, your Social Security COLA is ZERO...for the third year in a row!

WHAT IS GOING ON?

My friends, you are being "put out to pasture" to fend for ourselves. Washington hopes youwill soon die! If you don't, they will just keep reducing Medicare benefits and...who knows...they may NEVER pay any more COLA...and will probably increase the cost of Medicare (yes, you DO pay $96.40 a month for that!).

To put it succinctly, albeit crudely....RETIREES ARE GETTING SCREWED!

Oh, sure, the "middle class" is too. The reduction in available jobs and the rising cost of EVERYTHING is squeezing everyone. Having said that, however, I still contend that the retirees (and people on disability...don't EVEN get me started on THAT subject!) are being discriminated against SYSTEMATICALLY...and, ON PURPOSE! It is as though retirees are being classified as a threat to the country and, therefore, must be contained! The concept that beating you down to poverty level to "keep you from being no longer a threat" is a twisted one, at best, and criminally ruinous, in the worst case. Either way, you are still being screwed!

OK, so....WHAT NOW? Where do the answers lie? Here we go again....back on YOUR shoulders...OUR shoulders! There ain't no magic bullet! Moreover, it is completely out of our hands....until YOU....WE....get loud enough, serious enough, organized enough and strong enough as a whole to upset the apple cart, we will continue to be spat upon by our own government.

WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?

- Guye Scott

(c)2011 GuyeScottLibre