The Artfull Codger

It is a leap of faith to start anything new when you are a timid senior citizen, but look out world 'cause we are going to make it count. The Trentonian is giving me the opportunity to let you into my thoughts and yours and sound out just what makes us tick. Feel free to contact me with your issues and concerns.

For a start, we should address the truths and misconceptions that seem to have clouded one of the most important opportunities of our time. Just what does the Obama medical legislation really mean for senior citizens? Are you worried that you are going to lose your coverage because you need more services as you age? The new legislation will not let insurance companies discriminate because of preexisting conditions which should make it easier for seniors to consider more reasonable coverage. Payments of over a hundred dollars a month from Medicare to insurance companies to cover seniors are abolished in the new legislation. These are the cuts in Medicare that are concerning us. These are not cuts in our medical benefits...they are cuts in the bounties that have been paid to for-profit businesses to offset their risks.

An insurance company is like a casino. Everyone knows that the odds favor the house...but we like to play anyway. Well, insurance companies are based on the premise that your car will not crash, you will not get sick, you will not die...but every once in a while they will have to pay up. Reserves are set to account for pay-outs but it would be interesting to see what the reserves are really for a Blue Cross, a Cigna, a Hartford or a Met-Life. These very profitable companies circulate their profits across our economy with top executives raking in huge bonuses while gorging on their policyholders. The downside is that when their shenanigans miss the mark, guess who ended up bailing them out? We did. Years spent paying taxes and this is what we get.

As I look over my years spent without medical coverage, with partial medical insurance and one blissful time when I was carried by Amerihealth that even included preventative care, I want to cheer President Obama for having the intestinal fortitude to prevail.

A couple of weeks ago I spent some time with a Canadian couple. Fooling around about the hazards of vacation I told them how expensive it was to take out travel insurance...in case I needed help to get home from a medical emergency. They hooted...

"Our government loves us. We're covered for anything..."

Well, that's all for today.