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Senior
Life: One Card Does It All On May 27 and May 28, The Union published articles about the growth of the senior population in Nevada County. They focused in part on the services seniors need and how we as a county will be strained in meeting those needs. The Union reported that there are already "nearly 21,000" people over 60 living here. Many other seniors are likely to move here. The website suddenlysenior.com reports that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, adults over age 50 represent 76 million people, 28% of the total U.S. population. And they are to be found mainly in California, New York, and Florida. So if you're in marketing, this is great news. Seniors are a booming business. Because Profit is your religion, you're pleased that seniors account for 60% of all healthcare spending, purchase 74% of all prescription drugs, and buy 51% of all over-the-counter drugs If you're a senior living on a small fixed income, things don't look so rosy. It's not fun spending a lot on healthcare and drugs. And the posh retirement homes aren't interested in you as a client. You will end up living in a system of genteel welfare, and your life will be filled with vouchers, charity meals, co-payments, and subsidized housing. What's the problem? It comes down to this: there isn't enough money. What about the services that government and quasi-government organizations provide? There are never enough vouchers and there are never enough meals. There is obviously no Medicare prescription drug benefit. What's the problem? It comes down to this: there isn't enough money. Well, of course. There's never enough money. By now, you should be thoroughly sick of hearing it. This is the most prosperous nation on the face of the earth, yet somehow there isn't enough money to take care of people who worked hard their entire lives, fought the nation's wars, educated children, raised families, and paid significant money into Social Security. Not enough money, indeed! This is obviously a misinterpretation of the situation. In a less civil society, we'd call it a damned lie. As I write this column, the national debt clock (http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/) shows we have spent $6,086,559,914,809.99 we don't have, and that doesn't seem to distress anybody. The national debt is going up at a rate of $1.111 billion per day since September 28, 2001. And this is happening under a Republican administration! No, if a government can spend at that rate, there's no reason to believe there "isn't enough money" for seniors. Now for a solution. Do not label the following as "socialism." If you must use labels, call this the "Helping Your Mother and Mine" program, and that will give the idea a different tone. Here's a simple solution that will solve almost every issue of want or deprivation for seniors: When you turn 70, the government gives you the Senior Mastercard. What do you do with it? Buy things. Anything. There's no limit. That's right! And it's valid until your last day on earth. Buy drugs, food, gifts for your grandkids. Pay your rent. The merchant processes the transaction as what it is, a charge. At the end of the month, the government pays the bill -- no questions asked. That's it. Morphine sulphate for your cancer: $109.00. Aluminum crutch: $59.99. Living your final years free of want: priceless. For everything else, there's Mastercard. What about the cost? If it costs $1,000,000 per senior, what's the harm in that? We pay that much right now for a cruise missile. We can afford both. Further (for free market fans), private enterprise (the banks) can handle the program just like they handle Visa and Mastercard now. They don't dare charge merchants more than 0.5% discount or charge the government more than 0.5% interest. And they'll still make billions. In addition, the government will save billions spent on salaries and paper pushing. The Social Security and Medicare bureaucracies will shrink to a fraction of their current size. And the merchants of the country will get the biggest boost in sales they've had in decades. Will this program be abused by greedy merchants? Of course, but if we make robbing seniors a capital offense, that should reduce the fraud a bit. Management expert Peter F. Drucker said, "Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things." This program is both efficient and effective. Barry Schoenborn is a technical writer, and a 14-year resident of Nevada County. His column appears the second Saturday of the month. barry@wvswrite.com is his e-mail address. The opinions of columnists are not necessarily those of The Union. |