Medicare and margaritas — Bring on the black balloons

Two friends turned 65 and threw themselves a Medicare Birthday
party. We drank margaritas, played bocce ball and frolicked long
past our bedtimes. It was hard to imagine our friends being 65. Or
any of us ageless agile people who all looked so gorgeous by
candlelight.
But that’s what happens. You look up one day and you’re old
enough for Medicare. Which makes being 65 something to shout about.
At least loud enough to put your age on a government document and
celebrate with sympathetic contemporaries. It means you have made
it to the finish line. At least one of them. You can stop worrying
about health insurance.
It’s not exactly the same thrill as being old enough to take
your driver’s test or vote or order a drink. But it’s a definite
rite of passage. Sixty five, the new 21. Bring on the black
balloons.
I remember being at a dinner party a few years ago and realizing
that our conversation had been dominated by deductibles, COBRA and
pre-existing conditions. When did health insurance get to be so
sexy, I asked the silver-haired marvel on my right.
Back then we griped about employers switching to health plans
that didn’t include our long-time family doctor. We talked about
co-pays going up. About sticking with a job just for the benefits.
Things weren’t as grim as they are now, but the concern was
starting to creep in that something a lot of us had taken for
granted all our working lives was eroding.
Now that health insurance has turned into a huge, slippery pile
of lies, threats and insecurity, you can turn 65 and be glad to be
over that particular hill. Welcome to the land of socialized health
insurance, made in the USA.
No more worrying that you’ll lose your coverage. And the doctor
finds something awful which costs bags of gold to fix. And you have
to sell your home and move in with the kids.
Bad economic times skew one’s perspective on many things.
Suddenly it’s not so bad to be getting older. The worst recession
in 80 years can make a person grateful to have lived long enough to
climb into one or two life boats. Medicare and Social Security may
be leaking but at least you’ve got a seat.
Well, at least for the time being. The relief could be brief,
because there are mighty forces trying to torpedo the life boats.
Opponents of Social Security and Medicare would like to undo both,
leave it to individuals to find their own best deals. Critics
including members of Congress sneer at these government guarantees
like they’re some kind of public assistance. They call them
entitlements. But wait a minute. Social Security and Medicare are
no more entitlements than members of Congress get with their free
government-paid health insurance.
For us regular people, they’re a return on our long-time
investments. We’ve had money taken from our pay checks for Medicare
and Social Security ever since we started working. It’s been our
deal with the government, that there’d be this sure thing when we
needed it.
Not that it’s enough. You have to buy a supplement if you want
more than bare bones Medicare. And Social Security is a nice
allowance but you can’t live on it. Most people expect to also rely
on their greater savings, investments and pension. But look what’s
happened to them. No sure thing there, either. Plenty of retirees
turn around and go back to work.
When I asked in a bookstore for books on retirement the clerk,
in gray ponytail and Birkenstocks, said “Who can afford to retire?”
I’m starting to worry that he might be right. Maybe we need to
change the lyrics in the song from, “I hope I die before I get
old,” to “I hope I die before I go broke.”
Susan Swartz is an author and local journalist. You can also
read her at www.juicytomatoes.com and hear
her Another Voice commentary on KRCB-FM radio on Fridays. Email is
su***@ju***********.com.