The Republicans aren't just killing health care,they're killing any hope of retirement for millions

[babylonsister]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/3/4/1639969/-The-Republicans-Aren-t-Just-Killing-Health-Care-They-re-Killing-A-Secure-Retirement-For-Millions


The Republicans aren't just killing health care, they're killing any hope of retirement for millions
By Dartagnan
Saturday Mar 04, 2017 · 12:02 PM EST



When Republicans in the U.S. Congress vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), they expected their constituents would be cheering them on. “Socialized Medicine!” and “Death Panels!” were the chants of the astro-turfed “Tea Party” folks who had slogged their way into Town Meetings in 2010, urged on by murky “grassroots” organizations calling themselves things like “FreedomWorks” and “Americans For Prosperity,” organizations that “suddenly” appeared on the scene, but ones that, strangely, no one actually belonged to.

Those were heady times. They were all ginned up, hot and bothered, ready to stick it to the black President.

Well, seven years have passed, and that early enthusiasm among the GOP base for destroying Obamacare has subsided, even as the Republican Congress continues to move forward with their plans to kill it. Why?

Well, many of those tea party folks are now in their late 50s or early 60s. Too young for Medicare, but too old to be regarded as a worthwhile bet by corporate America. As a result, many of them—the ones who never made those high six- and seven-figure corporate salaries—are facing the cruel world of age discrimination, despite the lowest unemployment numbers in recent memory:

Six years after the Great Recession ended, jobless older workers are the forgotten story of the economic recovery. U.S. employers are creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs every month, but millions of older workers who want a job cannot find work.

The economic data documenting the problem is clear. So is one of the most important causes: age discrimination.

And those who are still employed feel compelled to keep working, even if their health suffers, because it’s the only way they can get health insurance.

It’s sad that the right-wing media has poisoned The New York Times in the mind of the Republican voter. Because as this article points out, that awful, evil “Obamacare” those folks voted to destroy by flipping that “R” lever in the voting booth may have provided them the only way out of working for the rest of their lives. By offering a way to get affordable medical care—past age 55 or so—for themselves, their spouses, and their kids, the Affordable Care Act provided millions with something priceless—the ability to retire early:

Americans reaching 65 become eligible for Medicare. Before reaching that age, some can get retiree coverage from their former employers. But not very many companies, especially small ones, offer medical insurance to retirees. If early retirees are poor enough, they could turn to Medicaid. To retire early, everybody else would need to turn to the individual health insurance market. Without the subsidies and protections the A.C.A. put in place, health care coverage would be more difficult to obtain, cost consumers more where available, and provide fewer benefits than it does today.

That means that if the A.C.A. is repealed, retiring early would become less feasible for many Americans.

Good luck finding a company that offers medical insurance to retirees. Only 24 percent of large firms do anymore, down from 40 percent in 1999. That’s because corporate America has gradually ditched any sense of ongoing responsibility to its employees. Pensions with health care coverage are a thing of the past. You lose or quit your job in your 50s—when health problems (and “pre-existing conditions”) start to mount for most people—and you’re basically on your own. You either keep working or you put yourself at risk for medical bankruptcy:

This consequence is called job lock—the need to maintain a job to get health insurance. One of the arguments in favor of the A.C.A. was that it would reduce or eliminate job lock. With repeal of the law on the agenda of Congress and President Trump, there is renewed concern about how health insurance could affect employment and retirement decisions.

snip//

So when you see that frail man or woman in her early 60s, behind the cash register at the convenience store, or working the floor at the Walmart, or sorting clothes at the Target, don’t forget that there was once a law that would have allowed such people to retire with dignity.

And the Republicans killed it.

[BumRushDaShow]

1. K&R

[smirkymonkey]

2. I hate what this country has become.

Just a cruel, evil plantation. Determined to work people to death with no reward for their lifelong service.

[redstatebluegirl]

3. K&R

This was me, it took me 5 years to find a job after being forced out at 56. Now I have a half time position with benefits, but it is a 3 year grant so if it isn't renewed it will just take me to 64 and 2 months. I can go back on my husband's insurance but it will cost close to 1000 a month. I have pre-existing conditions including slowly losing my sight. It sucks to get old in the United States.