With limited incomes and little or no savings, seniors increasingly depend on government programs and worry who will care for them as they age.
Medicare
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
How about Medicare Advantage for all?
A resurfaced Barack Obama has uttered those three little words: “Medicare for all.” Does that mean that the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, was a bad idea? Not at all. The ACA was a triumph in that it cut the number of uninsured Americans by 20 million. And it hardened the idea that no American, […]
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Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Social contract between generations needs updating
WASHINGTON — The trustees for Social Security and Medicare issued their annual reports last week. This is cause for discouragement because it reminds us how much we’ve mortgaged the country’s future to spending for older Americans. Already, Social Security and Medicare constituted 42 percent of federal spending in 2017, say the trustees. If they had […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
The impasse of Medicaid expansion
It seems that state legislators are so enamored with party politics that they have stopped considering what the people want and what is best for Maine. The current argument over expansion of Medicaid is just one of the issues they are bickering over and use as a rallying cry for the faithful on either side. […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
The shutdown is over so what is next?
WASHINGTON — OK, the shutdown is over. But no one should be fooled into thinking that this settles the big questions facing the country. Even if (a big “if”) the immigration laws are overhauled and the nearly 700,000 “Dreamers” stay in the United States, at least three large issues remain that neither party has yet […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
Get a real cost of living increase
Correct me if I am wrong. Did we or did we not contribute and support Medicare/Medicaid with direct support through weekly paychecks while we were working? Considering the yearly increased costs of these programs, what dictates that the increases need to come from those receiving the benefits? It just seems totally insane to give retirees […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
CMMC penalized for infections, patient safety
LEWISTON — For the second consecutive year, Medicare will penalize Central Maine Medical Center for its high rates of infection and patient injuries. The news comes just weeks after CMMC’s accrediting agency said the hospital was not doing enough in its policies and procedures to prevent infections. The agency gave the hospital 30 days to […]
Posted inLetters
Everyone needs health care
In his letter (June 6), Richard Grover asks about the differences between Obamacare (ACA) and Trumpcare (AHCA). According to CNN Money (March 27) “How Obamacare Affects Everyone” — “under Obamacare, senior citizens pay less for Medicare coverage and for their prescription drugs. Many people receive free contraceptives, mammograms, colonoscopies and cholesterol tests. And those with […]
Posted inOp-Eds
There are good reasons for cuts to Medicare
By Charles Lane The Washington Post President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal 2018 is being condemned, right and left, for the cuts it imposes on various federal programs. Too little attention is being paid to the necessary economizing the Trump budget avoids — specifically, with regard to Medicare. Medicare covers physician services, hospitalization and […]
Posted inLetters
Medicare for all
The House Republicans’ recent passage of a health care bill (“Trumpcare”) without waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to evaluate it was an egregious flaunting of the grave responsibilities Congressmen have to their constituents and to their country. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, was one of them. He should be ashamed. The GOP bill would take $880 […]