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Dear Dan,

Thank you for conveying to Minority Leader Pelosi the attached petition urging our elected officials not to cut vital benefits.  The attached file includes complete contact information for all signers, who will certainly be interested in a response from our representatives.  Best regards, Ellen Shaffer

Protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

Women, communities of color and allies call on Congress and the President to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

The Issues

As Congress reconvenes to address the budget, the first order of business must be to protect the benefits we rely on through Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Congress failed for the last 2 years to agree on proposals to manage the federal budget and the deficit, and now faces a “fiscal cliff:” without further action, cuts to the military and social programs would be phased in starting in January, 2013. The Bush-era tax cuts would also expire, meaning taxes would go up both for wealthy and middle-income people, starting in January. To avoid these consequences, Congress could just raise tax rates for the wealthiest 2% of the population, but carve out middle-income people, who need the cash to stimulate the economy. Failing that, groups associated with finance capital have advocated for a “Grand Bargain,” first proposed by the failed Simpson-Bowles commission, to cut benefits for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as a trade off for some tax increases.

Cutting benefits from Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid would be especially harmful to the health of women, who live longer but have lower incomes. Additionally, women of color, who already experience a host of health disparities and difficulties in accessing critical health services would be disproportionately impacted by any erosion of Medicaid.

The “chained CPI” would directly reduce benefits paid to the elderly, estimated at 3 months of groceries a year. (See: http://www.nwlc.org/chained-cpi-what-it-and-what-it-means-women ) Raising the age of eligibility for Social Security income support, or reducing benefits, would tip millions of elderly women into poverty, including many without family or friends as caregivers, and who are people of color. They would have to spend down their savings to become eligible for Medicaid, and experience medically unnecessary confinement in nursing homes as a result.

Medicare is the major source of payment for hospital and ambulatory care as well as for rehabilitation services and considerable home health and nursing home care. Forcing women to neglect necessary care at ages 65-67 would result in greater risk of complications from chronic diseases as they grow older.

Medicaid provides essential support to pregnant women, their children and people using long term care services at home, in their communities and in skilled nursing facilities. Any reduction of these benefits would irretrievably harm health and hasten death among women.

Further, the Social Security Trust Fund is entirely solvent through 2038, requiring only minor tweaks in the interim to extend into the future. Medicare and Medicaid are affected by health care cost increases, but cutting benefits will not solve those problems.

The text of the petition

On Nov. 6, women and communities of color gave the margin of victory to a President and members of Congress who promised to fight for higher taxes on the wealthy, for more public investment and for careful cuts in spending, while revitalizing the economy.

As Congress negotiates on the “fiscal cliff,” they must protect the benefits we rely on through Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Cutting benefits from Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid would be especially harmful to the health of women, who live longer but have lower incomes. The “chained CPI” would cut payments to women in their 80s by the cost of 3 months of groceries a year. Additionally, women of color, who already experience a host of health disparities and difficulties in accessing critical health services would be disproportionately impacted by any erosion of Medicaid. These cuts would do nothing to address the deficit. Such cuts would force women ages 65-67 to neglect needed health care, worsening chronic conditions throughout their lives. Reduced income support would force many elderly women without family or friends as caregivers to spend down to qualify for Medicaid, and experience medically unnecessary confinement in nursing homes as a result.

There is a ready solution to raise revenue: Let the Bush tax cuts expire for the wealthiest 2% of Americans.

We urge you to fight for:

1. No cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits

2. Let the Bush tax cuts expire for the wealthiest 2% of Americans.