SENIORS: Hurt by government greed

Once again, thanks to our government and it’s powers-that-be, seniors and the disabled will once again be taking it in the shorts, if what we are hearing/reading is true. There will be cutbacks on our Social Security 2016 checks, Medicare and no COLA in January. They talk about Social Security incomes of $50K, and above. They don’t mention that it also affects those of us who collect much less than that. I’d love to have $50K a year! Are the illegals included in the cutbacks, or will they continue to reap every freebie the government can create for them?

Instead of targeting SS recipients, why aren’t they investigating the Medicare fraud that is taking place every day? I have piles of Explanations of Benefits from our private insurance company and Medicare to prove what is happening. When my husband was admitted to a local nursing home, we were quoted a cost of $8K a month. We were told that the amount would cover all aspects of his care, short of actual medical expenses. At first, I wasn’t paying too much attention to the EOBs, as I had more pressing issues to deal with…his terminal illness.

As the EOBs started piling up on the table, I started looking at them, and was absolutely shocked. On each monthly statement were three columns. Column 1 showed the Amount Allowed, Column 2 showed the Amount Billed and Column 3 showed the Amount Paid. Column 1 showed an amount of more than $23,000. Column 2 showed an amount in excess of $18,000. Column 3 showed that the nursing home was actually paid more than $14,000. Remember...the quote we were given for his monthly care was $8,000.

I placed calls to all of the agencies that were involved, asking how they came up with their numbers, and why they so drastically exceeded our $8K quote. One of them asked me, “Why should you care? It’s none of your business.” Another said, “It’s not coming out of your pocket, so what’s it to you?” The third one I called told me, “We are doing nothing wrong. We always stay within Medicare’s guidelines.” If this isn’t Medicare fraud, then I don’t know what else to call it.

I have friends who tell me that they’ve seen the same kind of discrepancies on their medical bills, etc. As far as I am concerned, this is out and out stealing! As always it all seems to boil down to greed! We are at the mercy of unscrupulous insurance companies, medical facilities and almost any other place where we have to do business.

As far as the no COLA is concerned, how can they justify it by saying there hasn’t been enough inflation? They blame lower gas prices. Have the rich, fat cats who control SS ever been to a grocery store? I doubt it! I’m sure they have servants who shop for them. When gas prices were high, all stores raised their prices. Gas went down in price, but the stores never lowered their prices. Even the thrift stores where I shop for my clothing have raised their prices!

The only ones hurt by corporate and government greed are the poor and the elderly. Such a shame!

LOLLY JEROME

Coeur d’Alene