Benjamin Franklin had no idea how prophetic he was when he wrote these words "Of two things you can be certain; death and taxes," some two and a half centuries ago. With the highly-controversial health care bill receiving approval by a partisan Congress -- in spite of strong resistance by the minority party and the American public -- we have yet to learn all the dirty little details of how this legislation will affect the lives of citizens.
Pre-boomers, those born between 1930 and 1945, have much at stake; but our overwhelming opposition to the health care bill has been ignored. New Seniors, as we are now known, are faced with the prospects of having Medicare cuts of $500 billion dollars. Where will these dollars go? For starters, 30 million people will receive health insurance that were not on the roles before. Most New Seniors want their follow citizens to have health insurance available to them, but not at the expense of our own well-being. We paid taxes for our entire working life, and a portion of those taxes supported the Medicare program. Now, when we have reached the point in our lives when we must depend on more medical care, it may be taken away or the quality greatly diminished.
To think that half of the nearly trillion dollar cost of the health care bill can be funded by savings realized by reducing waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare is pure fiction. To begin with, many experts claim costs could two or three times that amount. Secondly, there is a "doctors' fix" that is not included in the bill to offset the reduction in Medicare payments to medical providers. The cost $250 billion. But even this won't keep many physicians from leaving their practices (surveys show up to a third are ready to quit); and those that stay will have to take care of another 30 million people, so rationing will naturally occur.
Politicians once considered seniors the "third rail" when it came to Social Security and Medicare. But, somewhere along the line, the focus in Washington has changed. They have forgotten our contributions over the years in favor of the rising younger tax base. But we will not forget those who have turned away from us for what they hope be long-term political gain. Pre-boomers are more than 30 million strong, and boomers will start turning 65 next year. And this group of voters, over 76 million strong, will be turning 65 until 2030. Combined, we will have political clout.
No matter what some may say this is not the end for us, rather it is the beginning of a period of revitalization for New Seniors. We can take this battle to the streets of our communities in the months ahead, so our voices can be heard. And we will continue the fight by going to the polling booths in November to be sure that we elect representatives who appreciate our service to this country, understand our needs and are willing to work on our behalf in order to get things back on track us, and all Americans.
The idea that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will be responsible for seeing that our children and grandchildren are paying for the health insurance of others, while pre-boomers stand to receive less care, is ironic. Old Ben Franklin was right about death and taxes, because the IRS (most dreaded of all government agencies) will, in effect, be overseeing both -- all under one roof.
Don Potter, a Philadelphia native, was born in 1936 and is a 50 year veteran of the advertising agency business. Now living in Los Angeles, he has written two novels in retirement, frequently writes on marketing issues, and has a blog dedicated to pre-boomers (those born between 1930 and 1945). Read more articles for and about pre-boomers with thoughts, comments and opinions designed to spark thinking, foster discussion, and stimulate debate by logging on to http://www.pre-boomermusings.com
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