Carmel, CA Social Security Checks To End in August?

View From A Private Duty Caregiver Serving ,

Salinas, Seaside, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove & Pebble Beach, California

The front page of the Wall Street Journal today screamed, "Stakes Rise on Debt Vote: House
Republicans Increasingly Question the Urgency of August Deadline." It said that freshmen House of
Representatives from the Republican party simply didn't believe Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner who
has said if Congress doesn't raise the $14.294 trillion debt limit by August 2, the federal government won't
be able to pay all of its bills, which would have a catastrophic economic impact. "When you say the drop-
dead day is going to be August, I don't believe that. I'll believe it when I see it," said Representative Tom
Rooney (Republican, Florida). This would place the Federal Government in default on its debt and the
Treasury Department has said that if this happens, it could mean stopping or limiting such payments as
Social Security, Medicare checks, interest on debt, unemployment benefits, tax refunds and money
owned to government. Those who have lived in California know that governments can and do run out of
money--I have personally received an I.O.U. in the mail for my California state tax refund checks when we
couldn't get a budget passed, and it's very disconcerting. What's even more troubling is that it seemed
like we had a plan for raising the national debt ceiling, but now House Speaker John Boehner said on
May 9 that any increase in the government's debt limit should be accompanied by trillions of dollars in
spending cuts which should be greater than the amount of the debt ceiling increase. It was just a week
ago that it appeared that Republicans and Democrats had reached an agreement to pass an increase in
the debt ceiling with vague promises to do budget cuts at a later date. Boehner's latest comments, made
at the Economic Club of New York said that lawmakers should identify specific budget cuts rather than set
future targets as had previously reported. "It's true that allowing America to default would be
irresponsible. But it would be more irresponsible to raise the debt limit without simultaneously taking
dramatic steps to reduce spending and to reform the budget process. The Treasury is now saying that
we will hit the debt ceiling in just a few days, on May 16. Boehner appears to be playing chicken again
with the White House, trying to get more concessions in exchange for gathering support from Republicans
to raise the debt ceiling. On Thursday it was reported that the House GOP "found" $30 billion more in
cuts, doubling previously proposed cuts to domestic programs and slashing Cabinet budgets. The
proposed cuts went to the House Appropriations Committee and would build on $38 billion in cuts already
announced. They include things like food inspection, Pell grants for college students, community
development grants, food aid to low-income pregnant women and their children, and grants to community
action agencies that serve the poor. "Those are all things that are going to hurt the lowest-income people
in this country," Representative Norm Dicks of Washington, the top Democrat on the Appropriations
Panel, told a reporter. There are also sweeping cuts to Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) and food
stamps. The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation and the Urban Institute analyzed the proposed
House Republican budget and found it would leave 36-44 million more low-income people uninsured as
the Federal Government cuts states' Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) funding by one-third over the next
10 years. It said Medicaid's role as the nation's safety net health care program would be significantly
compromised, with no obvious alternative to take its place if the GOP budget were to be adopted. Under
the GOP plan, the rights to Medicaid benefits under federal law would be stripped and it would repeal a
coverage expansion to low-income adults that was included in President Obama's health care reform bill.
Medicaid would be converted from an open-ended program in which the federal government pays about
60% of the cost of services into a block grant that would give each state a fixed sum of money.
Republican governors have said they could save taxpayers billions of dollars through a block grant that
would allow them to tailor system to local needs. But the study which was released casts doubt on
whether governors would have enough money to adequately meet the needs of their states. It predicted
that by 2021, hospitals would face Medicaid funding cuts of $84 billion. Making the matter worse, there
would likely be more people hitting the emergency rooms because they won't be able to find local Doctors
willing to take the paltry Medicare payments. "Some cuts in payments to hospitals are inevitable if health
care spending is to be reduced," said the report. "But these reductions are of such a magnitude that they
have quite serious implications…higher levels of uncompensated care facing hospitals would inevitably
lead to increased spending by state and local governments," it continued. Although it appeared last
week that Medicare was safe until after the elections, this is no longer the case and now even Social
Security checks appear to be at risk. Seniors will be anxiously awaiting the outcome of this political
battle.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704681904576319631004754242.html

http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/blog/index.html?entry=medicare-medicaid-safe-for-now

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703864204576313543440663916.html

http://www.montereyherald.com/rss/ci_18047890?nclick_check=1

About Richard Kuehn & Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey:

After more than a decade of caregiving, both in a professional environment and for a 97 year old family
member Richard Kuehn was dissatisfied with service from local caregiving agencies. He became
convinced of the need for a service which provides very personal assistance to the elderly and founded
Family inHome Caregiving serving the Monterey Peninsula. Please visit my blog where I talk about
important senior issues at:
http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/Blog/