Medicare will need some changes in the future, but they could be very good or very bad for seniors, depending on who is making public policy.

Contributor: Buddy Robinson

If this wasn’t such a chaotic time in America’s politics, you’d be hearing more in the news about an important struggle that is still going on quietly, in the background:   The future of Medicare.

You’ve heard some of this in recent years – dire warnings that Medicare is running out of money, and at an ever-faster pace. Some assert: “Medicare benefits will have to be reduced, if we are to continue having any at all.”

The talk in the news is quieter for now, but there are still strong efforts behind the scenes, waiting to take center stage after the 2020 election is over.

What does the election mean for the future of health care?

Contributor: Buddy Robinson

The issue of health care remains a top priority of voters, because it continues to get less and less affordable. At the same time, restrictions on what's covered and which doctors you can see gets worse and worse. The COVID pandemic has made the problems in health care access and cost all the more alarming.

This is a huge topic for the November election. If Trump gets re-elected, he and the Republicans in Congress won't just fail to reverse the trend in greater cost and restrictions. They'll accelerate it.

Medicare's future can be good or bad, depending on the results of the elections

Contributor: Buddy Robinson

Medicare is not in the news much these days, but don't be fooled. It's still an intense, big-money issue hidden in the background. Its future, for good or bad, is at stake. There are strong opposing ideas of what to do with it. The Republican party's plan would greatly increase health care costs for seniors and disabled, while enriching insurance companies.

The Social Security payroll tax is unfair. If we fix it, there's a bonus: Full benefits for today's young people when they retire.

Contributor: Buddy Robinson

The Social Security payroll tax lets people with huge wages (and the companies that employ them) off the hook. That should be changed, so that rich wage earners pay the same percent that the rest of us do. Solving that problem will also solve a second problem: It will ensure that when today's young people retire, they will get full benefits instead of just three-fourths.

The assertion that the money owed to Social Security will never be repaid is not true -- this is one more cynical lie.

Contributor: Buddy Robinson

Right-wingers claim that all the borrowing that Congress has taken from the Social Security Trust Funds is just a pile of worthless IOUs, which will never be redeemed. However, this is yet one more false scare tactic designed to fool people into thinking that Social Security will run out of money, when that's not the case.

What's Being Done By Trump Isn't Totally Clear, But It's Not Good For Social Security For Our Kids and Grandkids

Contributor: Buddy Robinson

President Trump just signed an Executive Order to pause collection of the Social Security and Medicare payroll tax, deferring the payment of those taxes until after the election. Worse still, he promised that if elected, he may terminate the Social Security payroll tax. That, dear reader, would kill off Social Security.

Contributor: Buddy Robinson

You may have heard some say that “Social Security is running out of money, and won't be there when today's young people retire.” However, that's not true. It's a lie, designed to generate support for reducing Social Security Benefits.

You aren't hearing much about this in the news, but it is a big issue in the November election. It's lurking just below the surface.