I am writing in response to David Spackman’s letter to the editor on Sept. 16. He calls Social Security and Medicare entitlements.

They are not entitlements, unless you think that after paying into both, we are entitled to them.

I worked 40 years paying into both Social Security and Medicare. I continue to pay my Medicare Part B monthly premiums out of the little income I get from Social Security. I also have a supplemental policy in which I pay monthly insurance premiums. I look at Medicare as a type of insurance you get through your employer. You pay a monthly premium and for secondary insurance coverage, you pay another monthly premium.

Medicaid is a little different, but most people on it are so poor they need Medicaid. Some are the working poor who cannot afford insurance. Others on Medicaid are either mentally or physically disabled; they cannot work and need it. Yes, there are some who abuse Medicaid, but there are some who would abuse anything and everything they could.

People, stop calling Social Security and Medicare entitlements. They are what I and many others worked hard for prior to getting old.

Paula Enquist

Sandy