What’s Behind the Medicare Part B Premium Spike?
The nearly 67 million Americans who depend on Medicare will ring in the new year with an unwelcome cost increase. The
Social Security Celebrates 89 Years of Keeping Seniors Financially Secure
Social Security turns 89 years old today. That’s nearly nine decades of providing baseline financial security to America’s retirees and their families --- and since 1956, to people with disabilities. Today, 67 million people --- or 1 in 5 U.S. residents --- receive Social Security benefits. And in all these years, Social Security has never missed a payment. Not once.
Wisconsin’s MAGA Senate Candidate in Hot Water again re. Nursing Homes
We blogged a couple of weeks ago about Wisconsin GOP Senate candidate Erik Hovde’s head-scratching comments about seniors in nursing homes supposedly not having the mental capacity to vote. Now, the New York Times has reported, Hovde is financially entangled with a nursing home that is being sued for mistreating patients:
Rep. Larson Re-introduces His Social Security 2100 Act & Other Top News of the Week
It’s been a busy week for Social Security watchers and advocates. Here are some of the major developments from Washington, D.C.:
Nikki Haley’s Call for Mental Competency Tests Proves that Ageism is Alive and Well
Upon kicking off her presidential campaign this week, Nikki Haley said politicians 75 years of age or older should be subject to mental competency tests. It was a cheap political shot at President Biden and her rival in the primaries, Donald Trump. But it was more than that. Haley’s statement is blatantly ageist. Of course, of all the -isms (racism, sexism, able-ism, classism, etc.), the targeting of older people remains one of the most socially acceptable – probably leading Haley to believe that her jab at senior politicians was safe. That doesn’t make it any less offensive.
Ageism is Alive and Well
Despite their enormous contributions to our country, seniors are continually devalued as members of society. When someone calls another person “old,” it’s understood as an insult, not a sign of respect. “In our society, older people too often are considered to be absent and invisible,” says our senior policy expert, Anne Montgomery.