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 a cost-of-living increase in Social Security benefits and then, in the next breath, take it to offset increased costs of insurance. Certainly, no-cost-of-living adjustment there.
I submit that (although as a worker I wouldn’t like to hear this) given the broad base of workers — there are more workers than retirees — a small minimum percent increase taken from weekly wages/salaries could maintain the system and allow a cost-of-living adjustment to actually occur.
In the end, I believe it would end up helping those workers in the future when it comes time for them to retire.
Marc Jalbert, Lewiston
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