Two concerns: In my Independence Day emails is one from the Social Security Administration, whose headline reads, “Social Security Administration applauds passage of legislation providing historic tax relief for seniors.” But remember, it was Ronald Reagan who in 1983 signed the legislation which authorized the taxing of Social Security benefits for singles who made $25,000 annually and couples whose joint income was $32,000. I went to an inflation calculator on Google, which informs me that $25,000 in 1983 would be equivalent to $80,689 today.
Fast rewind to this spring when I had the opportunity to talk with an economist at Smith Barney in St. Louis whose name I did not get permission to quote, but he told me that Social Security will be insolvent in about ten years, but that two adjustments would correct it, namely to raise the year of eligibility one year, from 65 to 66, and to reduce the benefit by 1.25 percent. That is a reduction that I, as a retiree on Social Security, could manage. Yet, neither Mike Lee nor Blake Moore has told us how abolishing the tax on Social Security income will affect its solvency in ten years.
Second: This past spring, I also got a statement of benefits from my medical insurance provider, whose name is very well known. That policy costs me $430 per month. I’m almost 80 and go to the doctor pretty often for this and that, so I figured that’s why my premium is high. Medicare in contrast costs $150 per month. But what surprised me is how little of my $430 premium was paying for medical expenses.
The lion’s share of it is kept by the insurance company, while the brunt of my medical costs are being borne by Medicare. I thought to myself, I wish I could get the parasitic insurance company out of the picture so that that $430 would pay my medical bills. Mike Lee and Blake Moore would scream socialism, and they’re right: It’s socialism for the insurance company. At the same time, Mike and Blake have gutted Medicare. So go figure where our new Social Security benefit is soon to be swallowed up.
Whit Wirsing, Salt Lake City
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