On Thursday, June 2nd, about 65 Philadelphians brought together by Penn ACTION, Action United, the Alliance for Retired Americans and SEIU gathered with residents of the Philadelphia Senior Center to personally thank Senator Casey for his vote against the Ryan budget bill that would change both change Medicare as we know it to a voucher system, which would double or possibly triple health insurance costs for seniors and cripple Medicaid.
In the 24 hours leading up to the event, we received 100 letters from members of Penn ACTION thanking Senator Casey for supporting Medicare and Medicaid. These letters came from people who are on Medicare, people in their 50s looking forward to receiving Medicare, and even those in their 30s who are still a long way from receiving the benefits.
The told many stories: about how Medicare helps people their healthcare bills so they can afford other goods; about how Medicare provides essential preventative health care services; and about how people have are waiting for their 65th birthday so they can receive Medicare and finally take care of healthcare issue that they can’t afford to take care of now.
Senator Casey talked about a recent report from the Joint Economic Committee, which he chairs, about the impact of the Ryan budget plan on Medicare. It showed that in 2011 out of pocket costs for Pennsylvania seniors would double from $6100 under traditional Medicare to $12,403 under the Republican proposal..
Senator Casey made it very clear to everyone at the event that any ends to Medicare were, are and will always be a bad idea and he will always be against changes to Medicare that will increase healthcare costs to our seniors.
At the end Penn Action presented Senator Casey with flowers to thank him for his continued support for the middle class and continued commitment to stand up for Medicare benefits.
If you missed the event, you can watch it online here.