Seniors are emerging as a battleground in the health care reform war, Michael Booth and Karen E. Crummy of the Denver Post report, and politicians are finding out just where the minefields are.
“Democratic reform backers who want seniors on board meet resistance from many who like Medicare as it is, and others who reject higher taxes to expand care for the young. A whopping 94 percent of senior Medicare enrollees said they were satisfied with their coverage in a July poll conducted by Suffolk University in Boston.
Meanwhile, the senior lobby AARP has lost tens of thousands of members over health care reform. These are members angry at a perceived endorsement of President Barack Obama’s health care proposals, as it faces daily assaults on its claim to speak for seniors. Republicans are jumping in to take advantage of the seniors’ fears that Medicare cuts will pay for the reforms, issuing a “bill of rights” to protect against benefit trims or alleged rationing. You know, like death panels.
— Rita Hibbard
